Reviving a conservation paradigm centred on creating connections between people and nature

© Markus Hofmeyr/ Oak Foundation

With their tremendous size and distinctive horns, rhinos have captivated many of us since childhood. Tragically, the rhino’s most distinguished feature, their horns, are prized for false medicinal purposes and are traded on the African and Asian black markets. In the last decade, nearly 9,000 African rhinos have been killed for this destructive trade, and Asian rhinos have dwindled to near extinction. Additionally, human development projects are robbing rhinos of their habitats, which are vital to their continued survival. But it’s not too late to save the rhinos. The Rhino Recovery Fund (RRF), working across Africa and Asia, aims to protect rhinos from wildlife crime, restore them in number and improve their health, while benefiting local people.

The RRF empowers conservationists to develop innovative programmes that boost the health of rhino populations, and its projects benefit local communities and encourage them to take part in protecting the rhinos that share their land. The RRF will help restore healthy rhino populations by funding efforts to stop rhino poaching, end demand for their horns, protect their natural habitats, and ensure that rhinos are relevant to the communities that live with them. In fact, 100 per cent of every dollar donated to the RRF will be deployed to rhino-focused projects in the field. This will ensure that every donation goes directly towards saving rhinos.

If you want to know more about what our Wildlife, Conservation, and Trade Sub-programme is doing, check out the Environment Programme’s strategy page on our website.