Night before last-Natasha Anderson of the Lowveld Rhino Trust spent an evening with us, sharing a bottle of Excelsior Merlot 2010, handpicked by her wine route-hopping friends in Cape Town. A delicious soft wine, yet with rich red fruit flavour, it went exceedingly well with the slow braised steaks which I had simmered in layers of tomato and onion for hours….
Tell your friends about Painted Wolf Wines, Natasha…they will relish meeting the dynamic Painted Wolf Pack of Jeremy and Emma Borg in Cape Town, who donate part proceeds of all sales of their excellent wines to wild dog conservation.
Natasha’s red wine, wonderful as it was, did not lighten our mood as we discussed the state of rhino conservation efforts world wide. Rhino horn poaching is on the increase, and try as we might, we are winning a few battles but losing the war. Time for innovative and daring thinking…..and strong education/outreach programmes. We shared the PACE environmental education films for adults and young people alike, most impressive.
early morning coffee with a view and the PACE booklet...
Children, Children, Children, with their natural enthusiasm and thirst for knowledge, are the way to conserving wild ecosystems for the future. But that is a long term investment, what about a quick fix now for the survival of black and white rhino species?
Like this:
Like Loading...
Related
About wineandwilddogs
Lin Barrie
The Save Valley Conservancy stretches along the upper reaches of the great Save River in the south east of Zimbabwe. The Gonarezhou National Park laps against the southern banks of the Save River and between these two nestles the Malilangwe Wildlife Reserve. These three celebrated wildlife areas form part of the Greater Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation Area, (GLTFCA)- a unique wilderness jewel which is home to the “Big Five” (endangered Black and White rhinos, elephants, buffalo, lion, leopard) and the ”Little Six” (Klipspringer, Suni, Duiker, Steenbok, Sharpe's Grysbok and Oribi). Endangered African wild dogs, Cheetah, Brown hyena, Bat-eared foxes and a host of special birds and plants contribute to the immense variety of this ecosystem. Communities around the GLTFCA contribute to innovative partnerships with National Parks and the private sector, forming a sound base on which to manage social, economic and environmental issues.
This is home to artist and writer Lin Barrie and her life partner, conservationist Clive Stockil.
Expressing her hopes, fears and love for this special ecosystem with oil paints on canvas, Lin Barrie believes that the essence of a landscape, person or animal, can only truly be captured by direct observation.
Lin Barrie states: “Through my art, and my writing, I feel an intimate connection with the natural world, and from my extensive field sketches of wild animals, people and landscapes, I create larger works on canvas.
Lin's work is in various public and private collections in South Africa, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Australia, England, Canada, Sweden and the United States of America. She is represented by galleries in South Africa, Zimbabwe, England, Kenya and Florida, USA.
wine and wild dogs 