5 FM have bought 50 x bricks!
Thank you to 5 FM for supporting My Acre of Africa.

You can view photos of the team building day on 5FM’s website: http://www.5fm.co.za/events/5fm-teambuilding-kruger-park-16-19-may-2010

Congratulations to Kirsten King and Robert Dauncey that got engaged at the Outdoor Classroom on 25 April 2010.  Robert proposed to Kirsten by buying a brick and then surprising her at the site!  A big thank you to Bryn, Loudrick and Gloria for going the extra mile and making the day so special for Robert and Kirsten.

Honourable Chairperson of the Trust (Mr Mashudu Ramano),and other Trustees Mr Paul Jenkins and Mrs Tholi Nkambule. The Managing Executive of the Kruger National Park (Mr Abe Sibiya) and your Management Team, Traditional Leadership, representatives of sponsors, Chairperson and members of the Community Steering Committee, Councillors, Circuit Managers from the Department of Education and educators, learners and distinguished guests. It is an honour and privilege for me to address you today on this august occassion.

Today Ladies and Gentlemen we are celebrating My Acre of Africa Open Day not only with the communities served by this Conservation and Environmental Education initiative, but are also sharing the platform of information giving with our significant partners, sponsors, educators and learners without whose support and participation My Acre of Africa would not be able to shoulder this crucial task.

In today’s world, the environmental challenges we face are massive. Humanity is affecting the environment in ways which are historically unprecedented, and which are potentially devastating for our natural ecosystems - and for the human species itself. Biodiversity is being threatened on every front by human behavior, global warming has become an undeniable and highly threatening phenomenon; and the degradation of the planet’s natural resources has taken on alarming proportions.

With a truly global effort, the world community can tackle these challenges head on, and find sustainable solutions ... before it is too late. The time to act is now.

Ladies and gentlemen, this report gives an overview of the activities, experiences and successes to date of the My Acre of Africa project.  The report highlights the enormous value of the My Acre of Africa’s Kids in Kruger programme and also highlights progress made the development of Phase 1 of the Environmental Education Centre.  It is hoped that the highlights reported here will enable the My Acre of Africa Trust to inspire more people, young and old to make wildlife, wild lands and sustainability their legacy.
My Acre of Africa Trust was established in 2001, with an aim to raise funds to create and Endowment Fund in order to support a diverse range of projects and programmes in the fields of Conservation and Environmental Education. Funds are raised through the sale of bricks that represents an acre of Africa.

ACHIEVEMENTS

Ladies and Gentlemen I am proud to say that through the Kids in Kruger Programme, My Acre of Africa in partnership with SANParks to date have managed to touch the lives of 25 800 children from communities living at the boarders of the Kruger National Park. 

Kids in Kruger Programme

My Acre of Africa and the Kids in Kruger have managed to generate a high level of recognition and acceptance not only in the communities around the KNP, but worldwide. This was all made possible by our generous sponsors and our highly successful partnership with SANParks.
Eco-clubs have been established in 25 schools, clean-up campaigns have been held in various schools.
Teachers’ workshops and bushcamps have been held in the Kruger National Park
School greening projects, gardening and recycling has been started in various schools
Twinning programmes between schools from abroad and local schools has become an annual event.
We are proud to say that today about R18m has been spent on the Kids in Kruger Programme of which the main beneficiaries other than children and teachers are the local suppliers which provided transport, catering and printing of promotional material.

Local Empowerment and Emerging Businesses

There have been great empowerment opportunities to local emerging businesses who were awarded contracts through the Kids in Kruger Programme and the development of the Education for Sustainability Centre next to Phabeni Gate in the Kruger National Park.  The appointment of staff from the surrounding communities has also made a significant impact on the respective communities.

Skills Development and Commitment

The enormous progress in terms of skills development and self-confidence that has been made by the project staff over the duration of this project, the commitment and inspiration of the Kids in Kruger Team in dealing with 50 new children every day in a sensitive and nurturing way is major achievement. They continue to gain experience and confidence and the children enjoy the time they get to spend in the company of these positive and inspiring young people.

Relations

Kruger National Park is a well known Conservation and Environmental Education institution. Its partnership with the project has extended community involvement and empowerment programmes.

The Kids in Kruger programme and the Community Project Steering Committee has been instrumental in strengthening ties between the Kruger National Park and the surrounding local communities.

A good relationship also exists with the Department of Education where circuit managers, principals, educators and learners are actively involved in the programmes that are aimed at building better communities that are aware of the importance of the environment.

Community Participation & Upliftment

The Community Project Steering Committee is a body established by the My Acre of Africa Trust to serve as a link between MAA and the local communities. The main task of the CPSC is to liaise with local communities on matters related to My Acre of Africa Projects and Programmes especially the development of the Environmental Education Centre. 

Through sponsorship received from TSB, the Trust managed to send members of the CPSC for training on Nature Conservation and Environmental Education at the Wild Life College.

Environmental Education Centre

Through funding received from DBSA, the Trust has managed to build an access road from Phabeni to the Outdoor Classroom.  It has also managed to fence the 330 acres of land that was donated to the Trust by South African National Parks.  The Trust is currently building overnight accommodation that can take 120 children and is also extending the Outdoor Classroom so that many children from both under-privileged and privileged communities can get an opportunity to visit the world-reknowned Kruger National Park. 

Through this development a lot of job opportunities have been created for the local communities.  Opportunities for subcontracting and supply of material have also been created. To date approximately R23m has been spent on the Environmental Education Centre of which 90% of it was awarded to local emerging black contractors.

Sponsorship and Financial Assistance

We are greatly indebted to our sponsors for their commitment and continued support over the years. Total SA, SABC, NLB, ACSA and SAA have been sponsoring this project for years.  We are greatful as we have just added Mitsubishi Motors to the list of our committed sponsors. We acknowledged with gratitude the financial assistance that we have received from the Development Bank of Southern Africa.

CHALLENGES
It is also important Ladies and Gentlemen that although we have achieved so much there were few challenges that the organization endured during the past few years.

As an organization that is not funded by government, the fact that the organization depends on sponsorship is a challenge itself as there is no security in terms of financial sustainability.

We also faced some challenges in terms of selling bricks as our main source of income due to the fact that we had nothing to show to prospective donors in terms of infrastructural development.

Our recent major challenge Ladies and Gentlemen was the airing of the Carte Blanche programme on MNET which was aimed at discrediting the project.  Although this created a lot of uncertainity amongst our sponsors and required a lot of explaining and rebuilding of the organizations credibility on our side, it also marketed the project to the audience that was listening to the programme as they started to enquire more about the project which gave us the opportunity to give a true picture of the project.

The challenges did not break the organization, but instead it has become stronger, committed and determined to achieve its goals.

Conclusion:

I hope through this report I have managed to indicate the enormous benefits that have been created by the My Acre of Africa initiative for the local communities bordering the Kruger National Park. The potential of this project is enormous and has laid a firm foundation that has hugely developed thus far.

It is vital that the project continues to receive the full support of all associated parties, to keep improving the quality of life of the people of our nation.

We invite all of you Ladies and Gentleman to support this initiative by buying an Acre of Africa which is symbolized by a brick. Please join us in our venture as we continue to make wildlife, wild lands and sustainability our legacy.

I Thank You
Report by the executive director of the Trust at the MAOA Open Day

The fundamental basis of the Carte Blanche story, that we intend building a Disney World Theme Park in our icon national park is flawed and is dismissed with the contempt that it deserves. Instead, our project comprises nothing more than a multi-purpose Environmental Education and Conservation facility modeled on the objectives of the SANParks’ People & Conservation programme. There will be no cinemas or circus-like activities similar to the sensational background footage presented in the Carte Blanche programme.

We are further deeply disappointed that our initiative, which seeks to do so much good for conservation as a whole, should have had to defend its reputation in a forum where the outcome was never going to be fair and where the programme’s end result was pre-determined. We are nevertheless grateful for the faint praise from Carte Blanche that Kids in Kruger seems like a worthwhile project- with more than 20 000 children having passed through our facility. We are also very grateful that all who have been and will remain associated with our project- all right thinking men and women- truly appreciate the importance of this initiative. There is every reason to put the distasteful attempt by Carte Blanche to discredit My Acre of Africa behind us. The My Acre of Africa Trustees will continue to stand behind the project and we know we have your support.

We have been in ongoing discussion with the Nelson Mandela Foundation and we uphold the highest respect for Nelson Mandela. Furthermore, the support of SANParks is a cornerstone of our success and we have been assured that we continue to enjoy their confidence. Overall, our project is in excellent shape and we will see accelerated delivery of our objectives in the next 12 months. We are fully on track in achieving the goals we have set for ourselves. The next phase of our learning centre will be completed towards the end of next year.

For the record it should be pointed out that the programme reduced the two and a half hours of interviews with our Trustees, to less than 10 minutes. Yet in that short time, every issue raised by Carte Blanche was denied or properly explained. We have nothing to hide and nor was there a valid case for us to answer. Our re-launch in August 2008 was virtually ignored.

Despite being asked to do so, Carte Blanche did not draw viewers’ attention to the fact that the source of the allegations was a disgruntled ex- SANParks employee who leaked privileged information, thus acting in a disgraceful and unethical manner. We will be considering our options and will seek redress accordingly.

Much was made by the accountant of the analysis of our financials, that we ourselves handed to Carte Blanche, and in respect of which the programme conceded we were fully transparent. Our offer to extensively debate these was ignored. The conclusions drawn by the accountant are questionable, as is his independence. He is Carte Blanche’s auditor. Our audited financial statements do not suggest any insolvency of the project. However we must admit that running a conservation project is a very costly exercise and that given the slow pace of revenue generation, the financial analysis weighs heavily on operational costs but that does not mean the project is not viable.

We have consulted Gilbert Marcus SC on our legal position. We will act with restraint and dignity. We ask for your understanding and continued support and to the extent necessary, apologize to you for any unnecessary embarrassment the programme may have caused.

Paul Jenkins-Trustee
On behalf of the My Acre of Africa Trust-10 November 2008

The campaign will be aired on SA FM , 5FM , Lotis FM , Goodhope FM and Metro FM.
These radio ads will be running all day, so listen out for them to find out how you can make wildlife your legacy.