WildAid challenges black celebs to join fight against poaching

10 June 2016 - 14:00 By Roxanne Henderson

Efforts to save the rhino have mainly fallen inside the terrain of South Africa’s white and wealthy folk‚ but a new campaign is trying to turn that around.Anti-poaching campaign by conservation organisation WildAid has called on black celebs to join the fight in a series of television and billboard adverts.Campaign ambassadors Maps Maponyane‚ Stacey Holland and Masasa Mbangeni spoke to TMG Digital this week to tell us why they care about the cause‚ and why you should too. Here are some memorable quotes from the interviews.Actress Masasa Mbangeni said more South Africans should be welcomed into the conservation space: “The reality is that conservation is still a largely white space where white capital earns you a seat at the discussion table. “Many of the people in surrounding communities of the Kruger have never been to the Kruger simply because they cannot afford to. Exclusion is widespread; women hardly feature in the conservation space‚ so there is a huge challenge in telling people who are excluded to conserve what they didn't plunder.”Media personality Stacey Holland said there is value in understanding the poaching business in curbing it: “[While shooting the campaign] we learnt to fire a pistol and two rifles and it was the first time I had fired a weapon. “After that training session I developed a true sense of the economics of poaching‚ the life-and-death reality our poachers face on a daily basis. “They put their lives on the line for very little compensation so that wealthy South Africans and foreigners can enjoy the splendour of seeing a rhino or elephant and other animals in their natural habitat. It's no wonder many of them would be lured into the lucrative world of poaching.”Actor and television presenter Maps Maponyane said he has recently learnt how complex the ancient creatures really are: “[My] most memorable moment [while shooting the campaign] was going to the orphanage for the baby rhinos. “That was absolutely incredible. It was wonderful to see the realness and the humanness that came through those animals. “You think that some emotions they won't be able to relate to‚ won't be able to feel‚ but seeing the trauma of them said so much.” – TMG Digital..

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