N/a’an ku sê Foundation wins the Order of the Bateleur

Dr. Rudie and Marlice van Vuuren of the Naankuse Foundation were recently awarded the Order of the Bateleur by the South African Hunters and Game Conservation Association

The N/a’an ku sê Foundation is one of Namibia’s leading conservation organisations which takes in orphaned and injured animals and also runs a carnivore conservation research programme which works with landowners on issues of carnivore conflict mitigation.

The South African Hunters and Game Conservation Association are the largest hunting association in South Africa with about 36 500 members operating in 71 branches across South Africa, along with a number of members in Namibia. Many of the members hunt in Namibia and the country is therefore well known to those involved. Many of the members are also involved in a lot of conservation work and conservation projects are undertaken by each of the branches.

The Order of the Bateleur is a one-time award and is given to members, non- members, branches and civic organisations that make a significant contribution to the conservation of the biodiversity of our region or to ensuring the survival of our natural habitat and wildlife. N/a’an ku sê have been awarded the Order of the Bateleur due to their active participation in conservation and promotion of our conservation work, especially through our carnivore conservation project which concentrates on human wildlife conflict and working with landowners to seek non- lethal resolutions.

“Stakeholders in conservation should realise that we need one another to really make a difference in our conservation efforts, we should work together and not against each other if we really want to conserve the wildlife of our beautiful continent.Thats why we are honoured by the award from the South African Hunting fraternity, because we realise that well policed hunting does play an important part in conservation.” said dr. Rudie van Vuuren of Naankuse.