Conservation and Community Development Levy Background

Since 2013, over 5000 rhinos have been lost to criminal poaching in South Africa. Although many rhinos are lost in Kruger National Park, smaller game reserves like Amakhala are also at serious risk to poaching unless rhino monitoring programs and other security measures are implemented and maintained. A Conservation and Community Development Levy is now deemed essential to assist in the significant costs associated with our multi-layered anti-poaching measures on Amakhala Game Reserve.

The Conservation and Community Development Levy will primarily fund the anti-poaching units and a dedicated rhino monitoring program to preserve and protect the rhinos of Amakhala Game Reserve. In addition, a percentage of the levy will be administered by the Amakhala Foundation to continue with and expand our award winning Conservation Education Programs. In 2017, over 2000 school children from local communities visited the Amakhala Conservation Centre to learn about wildlife conservation and sustainability for future generations. 

Amakhala Game Reserve continues to provide an excellent example of how communities can convert agricultural land for conservation purposes while promoting a viable tourism economy. Protecting the rhinos is a key factor in the ongoing success and sustainability of this initiative.