BY NOKUTHABA DLAMINI
The African Sun Hotels group has donated US$21 000 to The Victoria Falls Anti- Poaching Unit, a non-profit wildlife organisation to cover salaries and medical aid for game scouts.
During the handover ceremony held in Victoria Falls today, African Sun Hotels’ head Marketing, Public Relations and Innovation Charleen Mtezo said this is part of their Corporate Social Responsibility in order to fulfill and meaningfully impact the communities in which they operate, as well as contribute towards the achievement of the United Nations agenda 2030 for strategic development goals.
“The town of Victoria Falls is located in one of the most beautiful environments,” she said.
“However, the beauty of the location comes with some heavy burden of human and wildlife conflict. The Victoria Falls Anti Poaching Unit tries to ease some of the burdens by protecting the wildlife and habitat from poachers, as well as rescuing and rehabilitating injured animals.
Additionally, they train ex- poachers in new skills so they find alternative avenues of revenue creation to give them a sustainable income without doing harm to flora and fauna. It is against this background that the African Sun Limited, we saw fit for us to assist the Victoria Falls Anti Poaching Unit, so that they are able to carry out the challenging tasks at hand.”
She said the donation of will cover salaries, medical aid for scouts for a period of 12 months.
“l wish to invite other corporations to join us safeguard our precious environment and transform the lives of our communities. Lastly, I applaud those who are already on the ground doing the same.”