More than 100 guests were present at an event to support the establishment of Tlhokomela Trust – a collaboration between Forevermark and safari specialist Explore, Inc, whose aim is to protect Botswana’s rhinos.
“Tlhokomela” means “to protect” in Setswana and the body was created to facilitate conservation activities in Botswana, with a particular focus on global and domestic fund-raising, in order to prolong the sustainability of Botswana’s wildlife and wilderness.
Guests at the dinner hosted by chef Eric Ripert, included Botswana’s Minster of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism Tshekedi Khama, activist Gloria Steinem, actress Uma Thurman and model Coco Rocha and her husband, James Conran.
De Beers has been involved with rhino conservation since the 1970s and the company has pledged that for every acre that of land used for mining its diamonds, five acres will be dedicated to nature conservation and building ecosystems with healthy populations of native wild animals and plants.
The Debswana partnership between the De Beers Group of Companies and the Botswana government also supports approximately 50 percent of Botswana’s white rhino population. And the game parks that surround Orapa and Jwaneng Mines are home to several thousand animals, including zebra, cheetah, leopard, giraffe and others.
