Player named conservationist of the year

LEGENDARY South African conservationist Dr Ian Player has been awarded the 2008 Conservationist of the Year Award by the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF).

The award was bestowed on Player at the 10th annual CCF gala dinner at a Windhoek hotel on Saturday evening. Player was described as one of Africa’s greatest conservationists and one of the most respected environmental leaders in southern Africa.Player was CCF founder Dr Laurie Marker’s earliest role model and helped the development of CCF.In the 1960s, he initiated and led Operation Rhino in South Africa – a team of game rangers and researchers who reversed the decline of the white rhino population and promoted worldwide awareness of its plight.It was Player who introduced the concept of wilderness trails in South African game reserves and simultaneously founded the Wilderness Leadership School, a unique conservation education programme to develop young leaders.To date, more than 30 000 young people and adults of all races and many nations have graduated from this school and have made an impact on conservation matters in their communities and countries.Emerging commercial farmer Copernicus Tjituka was awarded the 2008 Cheetah Conservationist Farmer of the Year Award for his commitment to conservation farming.Tjituka farms in the Hochfeld area.A special award in recognition of pioneering cheetah research in Namibia was presented to the late Friedrich Gaerdes and was accepted by his wife, Rosemary, and son, Benrd.”His interest in cheetah behaviour, describing the use of cheetah play-trees, his documentation of cheetah distribution in Namibia and of the conflict between farmers and cheetahs, laid the foundation for cheetah research in the early 1970s,” said the CCF.The CCF is a Namibian non-profit trust striving for the long-term survival of the cheetah and its ecosystem.It was founded in 1990.Player was described as one of Africa’s greatest conservationists and one of the most respected environmental leaders in southern Africa.Player was CCF founder Dr Laurie Marker’s earliest role model and helped the development of CCF.In the 1960s, he initiated and led Operation Rhino in South Africa – a team of game rangers and researchers who reversed the decline of the white rhino population and promoted worldwide awareness of its plight.It was Player who introduced the concept of wilderness trails in South African game reserves and simultaneously founded the Wilderness Leadership School, a unique conservation education programme to develop young leaders.To date, more than 30 000 young people and adults of all races and many nations have graduated from this school and have made an impact on conservation matters in their communities and countries.Emerging commercial farmer Copernicus Tjituka was awarded the 2008 Cheetah Conservationist Farmer of the Year Award for his commitment to conservation farming.Tjituka farms in the Hochfeld area.A special award in recognition of pioneering cheetah research in Namibia was presented to the late Friedrich Gaerdes and was accepted by his wife, Rosemary, and son, Benrd.”His interest in cheetah behaviour, describing the use of cheetah play-trees, his documentation of cheetah distribution in Namibia and of the conflict between farmers and cheetahs, laid the foundation for cheetah research in the early 1970s,” said the CCF.The CCF is a Namibian non-profit trust striving for the long-term survival of the cheetah and its ecosystem.It was founded in 1990.