Orphaned baby rhinos get a second chance

LAFARGE South Africa is a subsidiary of the international Lafarge Group, a leading cement manufacturing company and a major sponsor of the world’s first rhino orphanage.

The orphanage is based at the Legend Golf and Safari Resort in Entabeni, Limpopo and cares for rhino calves that are injured and orphaned as a result of poaching.

In line with Lafarge’s pledge of ongoing support for this project, the company participated in a month-long fund raiser, the New Holland Rhino Run.

Lafarge was the sole sponsor of this event’s final gala dinner.

Lafarge had been a leader in sustainable development and in 2000 they were the first industrial group to enter into a worldwide conservation partnership with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

The Rhino Run initiative began in the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town on July 31 and it centered around a New Holland tractor being driven for 36 days to the Entabeni Resort. This is a distance of over 2 600km.

By the time the Rhino Run party reached Entabeni Resort they would have passed through 27 towns and held a variety of functions in each town to raise money for the orphanage.

A special focus was given to presentations to create awareness of the effects of poaching. In addition, underprivileged schools were given food parcels.

“Our country is home to over 90% of the world’s population of rhinos,” said Maria Sazeides, Lafarge South Africa’s National Sales and Marketing Manager.

“Sadly, despite of all the efforts to fight poaching, it looks as though we will lose even more rhinos this year than last year’s total of 668. As a caring company, we cannot stand by and do nothing as years of successful conservation are systematically and brutally destroyed.”

She also said that, earlier this year in another initiative, Lafarge launched a campaign based on their well-known environmentally friendly Buildcrete.

“The Buildcrete bag now features the rhino orphanage logo and part of the proceeds of every bag sold is being donated to the orphanage.”