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Unite against Poaching is proud to have been the runner up in the 2015 GRAA Rhino Conservation awards, in the category Awareness, Education and Fundraising.
This recognition of the team effort makes it a very special award.
Thank you to the team of Kevin Gillmer, Juandre Els, Brent Wilkins, Shaun Earle, John Turner and Snowy Botha.

It has been such a pleasure and honour to be Unite against Poaching

L-R: Dr Winfred Scherle (Ziess), Xiaoyang Yu (CNEI), Elise Daffue (Stop Rhino Poaching, winner), Linda Joyce (Unite against Poaching, runner up), Werner Myburg (Peace Parks Foundation), Chris Galliers (GRAA Chairman)

Le Chocolatier, the makers of the finest Swiss chocolates, has taken the plight of the rhinos to a new level.

They have produced a range of 3 beautifully handcrafted chocolate bars. R2 from the sale of each bar will  be donated directly to Unite against poaching to be used in the fight against poaching.

The delicious chocolate bars come in a 70% dark chocolate, a milk chocolate and a white chocolate.
These specialty delicacies will be available in the SANParks shops and specialist outlets.

What a treat to enjoy the delights of a beautiful chocolate and still help in the war against poaching.

To order directly from Le Chocolatier please click here

In December 2012 SANParks Management decided to form the Special Projects Department in an effort to implement mitigation measures to deal with the severe increase in Wildlife Crime and in particular rhino poaching in the Kruger National Park. Major General Johan Jooste (Ret)  was employed to head up the Department. His brief was to review current anti-poaching strategies and put in place para-military strategies, structures and systems that would enable SANParks to  respond to the increasing threat and change in tactics. Part of the process was the formulation of strategies and structures to support and coordinate the efforts and actions of both Rangers and other law enforcement agencies on the ground. It was clear from the outset that counter-poaching measures conducted within the boundaries of the National Parks alone would not be sufficient, and the term’ “clearing the Park from the outside” was coined.

Now that these above mentioned strategies and systems have been put in place within the Kruger National Park, Management have made the decision to move Maj General Jooste to Head Office. His focus will be to work closely with the relevant law enforcement structures in an effort to provide coordination to the initiative to “Clear the Park from the outside”.  Maj General Jooste will remain the Head of Special Projects and a Chief Ranger will be appointed to ensure continued leadership to the operational forces. The move of Maj General Jooste to Head Office will take place once the appointment of the abovementioned Chief Ranger has been finalised.

Unite against Poaching wish him great success as he continues this war against poaching!

Maj Gen (Retired) Johan Jooste

Mozambique burned the world’s largest ever seizure of rhino horn on Monday in what ministers and officials said was a demonstration of their commitment to tackle poaching.The largely symbolic destruction of 124kg of horn and 1,160kg of ivory. Mozambique has become a hotspot for Africa’s wildlife poaching crisis, losing nearly half its elephants to the illegal trade in the past five years. It has no rhino of its own, but is known as a hub used by the trade to export horn from South Africa – where a record 1,215 rhino were killed last year – to markets in Asia.

Today sends a signal,” said Celso Correia, minister for land, environment and rural development. “Mozambique will not tolerate poachers, traffickers and the organised criminals which employ and pay them to kill our wildlife and threaten our communities.”

Dr Bartolomeu Soto, director general of the National Conservation Areas Authority, said: “This event demonstrates the Republic’s commitment to protecting its natural resources, and its zero-tolerance to poaching, trafficking and to the organised criminals behind this.”

Rhino poaching is very much in the news and we are all shocked and horrified by the brutal attack on these amazing creatures.  Greed and the subsequent cruelty against these defenseless giants of the bush, brings out the desire to DO SOMETHING!!

South Africa has such a proud heritage of being in touch with nature and the National Parks are such an attraction to visitors from all over the world as well as for us to enjoy. The attacks and poaching in the Kruger National Park has galvanised South Africans in to getting together and getting involved.

So many people have expressed the desire to do just that “get involved” but don’t know how or what to do. The enthusiastic team at Unitrans Volkswagen are a group that are going all out to make a difference and to give the community the ability to make a difference too.

As a subsidiary of the Unitrans Volkswagen, are extremely  proud and committed to be a pivotal part of the drive to Unite against Poaching.  This initiative has entered into an arrangement with SANParks whereby funds are pledged by participating dealers  to be used specifically in the fight against rhino poaching.  The dealers pledges funds for each vehicle they sell (both new and Pre-owned) to the trust fund without disadvantaging the customer’s deal. This is a company donation and the customer will still get the best deal in town! The funds generated are administered by the SANParks Honorary Rangers who are all volunteers, so all funds pledged are used for their intention and no administrative costs are incurred. 

How can YOU make a difference? Each time a member of the public buys a vehicle from a participating dealer they are directly helping because their purchase is a direct pledge to the trust fund. The more vehicles sold, the higher the pledge to the fund and the more money there is to spend in counter poaching. Make sure all your family, friends and colleagues know that they too can make a difference and get a fantastic deal at the same time.

What happens to the funds? So far the trust fund has handed over R 8  Million to be used to fight poaching. The money is used effectively and efficiently and is not used for administration. The SANParks Honorary Rangers have already supplied basic bush survival equipment to 400 rangers in the Kruger National Park! This includes tents, sleeping bags, first aid kits, cooking equipment, rucksacks, compasses etc so that the rangers are able to survive in the bush for long periods without having to go back to base camp. This makes them much more effective in tracking the poachers.

Advanced surveillance training has also been paid for and money has also been donated towards funding the research into the DNA profiling of rhino. This helps in identifying  specific rhinos when poachers are caught and the data has already been used in court to prosecute poachers.

We are also the proud sponsors of the Unitrans Volskwagen Tracker hound unit. These amazing hounds called Chico, Jetta and Kombi have already helped neutralize 17 poachers in 2015 alone.

What this means is that YOU, the public can rest assured that by purchasing your vehicle from a Unitrans Volkswagen dealer you are directly contributing to the fight against poaching in the Kruger Park.  We need your help to achieve this.

Show your support for Unite against Poaching, pop into a participating  dealership and ask for your bumper sticker for your vehicles and MAKE A DIFFERENCE to the war against rhino poaching.

To identify which are the participating dealerships and for further information you can also log onto the website www.uniteagainstpoaching.co.za.