"Do One Thing" & Make a Difference
Melinda recently attended a talk by Braam Malherbe, conservationist, extreme adventurer, youth developer, author, and motivational speaker at the UCT Zoology Department.
Braam is an Honorary Ranger for South African National Parks. He is dedicated to doing all in his power to eradicate the scourge of poaching and offers his time to assist in the training of park rangers in methods for counter poaching operations. He has also co-founded the Table Mountain National Parks Volunteer Firefighting Unit where he was CEO for 6 years. Braam focuses his attention on the protection of the rhino population, where 72% of poaching is taking place in Kruger National Park.
He believes that more attention should be spent on securing the borders of Kruger, and the legalization of trade on rhino horns. Since the ban on trade approximately 75,000 rhinos have been killed, which shows the ban is not preventing poaching. Braam frequents a rhino farm in which the rhino’s are all de-horned, and they survive fine without them. The man in charge of the farm has only lost two rhinos to poachers since he de-horned them. This shows that this may be one step in the solution of preventing the poaching of rhinos.
Wednesday’s presentation was called “Do One Thing” which is the name of one of his conservation campaigns. Braam states “Our planet is just a dot in the universe; we are just dots on our planet; but, if we each just DO ONE THING (D.O.T.) we can make a radical difference.” He believes that if you start by focusing your attention on one aspect of conservation, even if it is a minor change in your lifestyle, it can contribute to a positive difference to the planet. He gave examples in his speech of using reusable water bottles, not using styrofoam cups, or purchasing only free-range eggs.
These are small and simple steps towards sustainability. The “power of the consumer” was discussed, by making “greener” product choices we are inherently changing what products are going to be distributed in restaurants and stores nationwide. As consumers we can also boycott products, and services that are harmful to our environment.
I found Braam’s talk to be very inspirational, especially to the green community. The discussion reinforced the belief that we have the power to make changes in our lives, that will positively affect our planet. For more information about Braam Malherbe visit his official website at www.braammalherbe.com
Information sourced at www.braammalherbe.com
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