Lawrence Anthony was on a mission to save our Rhinos – The Earth Organization needs your help to continue with this mission.
The Earth Organization is an independent, non-profit group which seeks to reverse the dwindling spiral of the plant and animal kingdoms and our environment through education and action.
The Earth Organization’s mission is to bring education to people all over the world and to effectively change man’s relationship with the plant and animal kingdoms. This program will continue and this year we are putting a real focus on the issue of rhino poaching. With a 100% increase in the number of rhinos killed between March 2011 and March 2012, this is a very serious and deeply concerning issue. The Founder of The Earth Organization, Lawrence Anthony, spent many years working to save the rhino in central Africa from extinction. His hard work came to naught and the northern white rhino is now deemed extinct with a non-viable population. This cannot happen again.
The Earth Organization is rolling out a program to assist in the fight to save our rhinos in South Africa. Lawrence always said that there is no “silver bullet” to handle the rhino crisis. We have therefore taken a multi-pronged approach to fighting this dreadful scourge. The project will roll out as follows:
· The Earth Organization is working with a film production team to make two, short educational films about rhino poaching and its devastating impact on the species. These will be filmed in Mandarin Chinese and Taiwanese. The message is non-confrontational and educational, teaching people in these countries about the effects of rhino poaching and debunking the myth that rhino horn has medicinal properties. The Earth Organization has an agreement, in principle, from a representative of the Chinese government who will air the material on Chinese TV. We will also post it on the internet and other media outlets as part of a viral educational campaign.
· The Earth Organization is setting up a whistle blowers fund to reward individuals for the report and conviction of poachers. Thus making it more valuable to expose poachers than to assist them.
· Education will continue around the game reserves to bring understanding of the value of rhino and the importance of biodiversity to human survival.
· The Earth Organization will work with like-minded organizations to increase the force against poaching syndicates and continue to put pressure on government to address the issue as a matter of national importance.
