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My Aims

Save The Rhino Trust

Africat

Save the rhino trust is the result of a passion from a wonderful lady called Blythe Loutett living and working in Namibia.

The result of a lot of peoples efforts headed by Blythe over many years working with the largest group of wild Black Rhinos outside of a National Park, anywhere. SRT have literally changed the fortunes for the rhino, creating a safer environment through monitoring and control, that their numbers have grown steadily.

SRT trackers viewing rhino

This is an intensive ongoing research and protection programme, it has now forged links with Wilderness Safaris of Windheok Namibia. Wilderness and SRT work in harmony together regulating the way we the tourist see and enjoy some of the last free roaming Black Rhino.

By supplying well trained local trackers ( SRT) for the tourist industry (Wilderness Safaris), the effects of human intervention, is strictly controlled. Also the condition and sighting of individual Rhino are seen and recorded to add to the huge volume of knowledge and understanding already inplace. It is a fine balance that I have enjoyed first hand.

I hope that it will carry on its fantastic work for many years to come.

Summary of SRT Research Goals:

Introduction:

The ongoing research and monitoring programme of SRT is a combination of a practical scientific conservation strategy, coupled with a community-based approach which is facilitated by their active participation in the project. These measures greatly reduced poaching and contributed to wider biodiversity conservation objectives. However, new challenges now face the area, particularly the need to secure the long-term sustainability of monitoring programmes and to further integrate tourism with conservation objectives.

Purpose:

To develop a Ministry of Environment and Tourism (MET) and community-driven programme that contributes to improving livelihoods and conservation in the region in order to secure the protection of mega fauna and optimise black rhino growth rates in line with metapopulation goals of the national population of black rhino

Objectives:

1. Assess the habitat suitability and carrying capacity of the black rhino range in Northwest Namibia

2. Evaluate the impact of tourism and other human activities on the distribution, movements and interactions of rhinos.

3. Build local capacity to co-ordinate wildlife monitoring and tourism development
a. training of two professional coordinators at MSc level, one from Save the Rhino Trust (SRT) and the other from MET
b. training of field staff from SRT, MET and the conservancies

4. Establish a sustainable monitoring programme for the black rhino coordinated and run by Namibian staff

For more information on SRT's research as part of the Darwin Initiative Programme visit these links:
www.ukc.ac.uk/anthropology/staff/mikeH.html
Summary of Darwin Initiative Research Programme in partnership with SRT & MET:
www.kent.ac.uk/anthropology/dice/research/namibia_rhinos.html

Save The Rhino Trust's own website at www.savetherhino.org

trackers completing ID form		Simson - one of SRT's trackers