De Beers Celebrates Wildlife Conservation Accolade

The Wildlife Ranching South Africa Award has been picked up by De Beers Consolidated Mines (DBCM) for its ecological management of four private game reserves in the Northern Cape and Limpopo provinces.

Judges singled out DBCM’s ‘disciplined approach’ as being ‘best-in-class in the industry’ and highlighted the success of its sustainable wildlife management practices and promotion of wildlife tourism.

Piet Oosthuizen, Senior Manager, Ecology and DBCM Properties, said: “We have had a strong focus on biodiversity management for many years. For every hectare of land affected by our mining activities, De Beers Group manages five times that amount for conservation.

“Managing game animals is a privilege and we make sure we do so in a manner that contributes value to the ecosystem without losing sight of the responsibility this brings with it.”

De Beers Wildlife, part of DBCM, manages around 67,000 hectares of land in the Kimberley area of the Northern Cape and was one of the first breeders of disease-free buffalo in South Africa. The company also owns 32,000 hectares of wilderness next to Venetia mine close to Mapungubwe heritage site.

This property hosts a variety of free-ranging predator species, such as lion, leopard and cheetah, and hippopotamus and crocodiles, while elephant were introduced in the early 1990s.

It also safeguards more than 35 species on its sites that are classed as endangered, threatened or protected and hosts viable populations of sable, roan and tsessebe antelope.

De Beers has had a strong interest in conservation since it was formed in 1888. Its main aim is to conserve animal species, to breed enough to support other projects in the country and to establish free-ranging herds on its own properties.

More than 90 species of mammals are hosted on the Group’s reserves. In addition, there are at least 300 birds, about 50 reptiles and frogs, and 12 or more species of fish – and up to 174 types of plants.

De Beers Wildlife is also involved in various conservation-related youth programmes, including providing post-school training, in partnership with the Northern Cape Nature Academy, to support students who want a future in the game industry. Tertiary education is further supported through two dedicated research facilities for the use of students.

De Beers has previously received awards for the valuable contribution it has made to conservation, including awards in 2010, 2011 (two) and 2013.

Wildlife Ranching South Africa represents the interests of wildlife farmers. The focus is sustainable use of wildlife products and includes wildlife tourism. Its members are mainly land owners involved in game ranching plus others in associated areas, such as veterinarians.

About De Beers
De Beers is a member of the Anglo American plc group. Established in 1888, De Beers is the world’s leading diamond company with expertise in the exploration, mining and marketing of diamonds. Together with its joint venture partners, De Beers employs more than 20,000 people across the diamond pipeline and is the world’s largest diamond producer by value, with mining operations in Botswana, Canada, Namibia and South Africa. As part of the company’s operating philosophy, the people of De Beers are committed to ‘Building Forever’ by making a lasting contribution to the communities in which they live and work, and transforming natural resources into shared national wealth. For further information about De Beers, visit www.debeersgroup.com.

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