The De Beers Group of Companies announced yesterday that De Beers Consolidated Mines (DBCM) has won the Wildlife Ranching SA award for ‘Biodiversity and Social Responsibility’. The award was bestowed “in recognition of its approach to ecological management”, the Company said, relating to four private game reserves it runs in the Northern Cape and Limpopo Provinces. These reserves, managed by DBCM’s De Beers Wildlife, cover around 67,000 hectares of land in the Kimberley area of the Northern Cape.

“Judges singled out DBCM’s “disciplined approach” as being “best-in-class in the industry” and referenced the success of its sustainable wildlife management practices and promotion of wildlife tourism,” De Beers elaborated.

Since the early 1970s, De Beers Wildlife began tointroduce a variety of species, including elephants, hippopotamus and crocodiles, at its ranches and is known as one of the first breeders of disease-free buffalo in South Africa. “It also safeguards more than 35 species on its sites that are classed as eitherendangered, threatened or protected, and hosts viable populations of sable, roan and tsessebe antelope,” the Company added.

“As a company, we have had a strong focus on biodiversity management for many years. For every hectare of land affected by our mining activities, De Beers Group manages five times that amount for conservation,” said Piet Oosthuizen, Senior Manager, Ecology and DBCM Properties. “Managing game animals is a privilege and we make sure we do so in a manner that contributes value to the ecosystem without losing sight of the responsibility this brings with it.”

Apart from its management of reserves, De Beers Wildlife is also involved in various conservation-related youth programmes. These include post-school training, in partnership with the Northern Cape Nature Academy, to support students who want a future in the game industry. “Tertiary education is further supported through two dedicated research facilities for the use of students,” the Company noted.

Pic Cap:

(from left) Dr Corne Anderson, Senior Biodiversity and Conservation Manager; Carina Brits, Game Management Support; Piet Oosthuizen, Senior Manager – Ecology and DBCM Properties; Tanya Schoeman, Commercial Lead; Phillip Barton, CEO, De Beers Consolidated Mines; and Charles Hall, Reserve Manager Dronfield