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Former Namibia captain and Saracens flanker, Jacques Burger, who has recently retired from international rugby after a career spanning nine years, says: “This is an opportunity for me to make a difference in my country and Africa as a whole, protecting something I feel strongly about. The biggest challenge in protecting elephants is combating the poaching crisis and we need to address this urgently.”
The other Saracens players include Jim Hamilton, Mike Ellery, Rhys Gill, Nils Mordt and Ben Ransom.
Max Graham, CEO of Space for Giants, added “this is about the ‘giants of rugby’ protecting the ‘giants of Africa’. Having these formidable and inspiring players take on the challenge of climbing one of the highest mountains in the world, carrying a symbol of their recent achievement, takes us one step closer to achieving our goal – a world where elephants and the landscapes they depend on are protected forever. We are incredibly grateful to Saracens and the players for their support.”
In April, Space for Giants hosted the Giants Club Summit in partnership with the Kenyan Government. The aim was to bring together African heads of state, business leaders, key influencers and conservation experts for the purpose of ensuring a future for elephants and the landscapes they depend on, forever. The summit was an historic moment in the world of global conservation with four Giants Club Presidents of Kenya, Gabon, Uganda and Botswana announcing major conservation interventions for the protection and management of their elephants.
Funds raised from the climb will go towards implementing these conservation interventions, which include the protection of elephants in the wild, the management of human-elephant conflict, and smart new ways to fund the maintenance of key elephant refuges – a ‘toolkit’ of methods pioneered by Space for Giants alongside partner organisations.