Retailers raise R3m for rhino conservation

© lienkie – Fotolia.com

Through this initiative, a cheque for almost R3m was handed over to South African National Parks (SANParks) and will be held in a ring-fenced account for strict utilisation by SANParks rhino anti-poaching programmes and interventions.

As front-runners to the consumer, each retailer created the adoption 'route' for the public. From every purchase of any six-pack of Bavaria 0.0% regular or fruit flavoured malt drinks, both the retailers and Bavaria Brewery matched a massive margin sacrifice to fund the consumer's adoption certificate cost and raise funds for the campaign.

Formidable partnership

"I would like to extend our sincere gratitude to Bavaria Brewery and to each of the participating retailers for their commitment to SANParks, which marks a formidable partnership in the fight against rhino poaching," SANParks Acting CEO Abe Sibiya, said. "The donation received will go towards vital ground and air detection and tracking equipment, elite canine capability and specially trained ranger teams, and improved intelligence gathering and observation and surveillance systems."

Roger ter Horst, Market Development manager of Bavaria Brewery Netherlands, said they are thrilled that the campaign has been such a success. "The risk we took to enter a new market, deploy our product's reach and sacrifice margin profit to raise awareness about saving the rhino has paid off. We are proud to align ourselves with industry partners who share our belief that conservation and preserving the rhino heritage is not only a global priority, but our responsibility as industry leaders."