Kasaona is conservationist of year

THE son of one of the first community game guards in the Kunene Region is the Cheetah Conservation Fund’s 2010 Conservationist of the Year.

John Kasaona was presented with the award at the Cheetah Conservation Fund’s 12th annual fundraising dinner on Saturday evening.John recently became the assistant director of the Integrated Rural Development and Nature Conservation (IRNDC) and is also the chairperson of the Namibian Association of Community-Based Natural Resources Management Support Organisations (Nacso).Ida Katuta was awarded CCF’s Conservation Farmer of the Year Award while CCF staff member Ezequiel Fabiano walked away with the Cheetah Conservation Educator of the Year Award.Katuta has a resettlement farm north of Gobabis and sought help from CCF after losing livestock to cheetahs in June last year.She received a livestock guard dog from CCF, which is keeping her herds safe. Fabiano, who is a senior research assistant at CCF, manages data analysis and assists with game count and other ecological research projects. Meatco CEO Kobus du Plessis walked away with the 2010 Cheetah Business of the Year Award. Meatco’s support for the Farm Assured Namibia (FAN) meat scheme, has positioned Namibia as the premier supply of not only hormone-free beef in Southern Africa, but the predator-friendly brand of Nature’s Reserve.