At a one-of-a-kind event in Johannesburg last month, 18 of the 25 South Africans who have summitted Mount Everest, and two non-South African summiteers now residing in this country, collaborated in support of conservation.

The Hoedspruit Endangered Species Centre (HESC) is proud to launch an exclusive 7-day conservation programme, affording South African citizens the opportunity to gain hands-on and practical experience in conservation and wildlife as well as the overall running of the Centre.

We can never do enough for our rhinos, who are in danger of extinction. In 2009 there was a dramatic increase in rhino poaching, with 135 animals killed. In 2010, a staggering 333 animals were brutally slaughtered for their horns.

By not supporting a moratorium on the on-going trapping and shooting of baboons in FSC-certified timber plantations in South Africa, FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) International seems to place economic interests above ecological values.

There is a war going on in Antarctica, and South Africa€™s Rosie Kunneke is one of the soldiers fighting the good fight. She recently returned to the country after 94 days at sea, participating in the world famous reality television series Whale Wars.

Bushmans Kloof Wilderness Reserve & Wellness Retreat has long been committed to saving the endangered Clanwilliam cedar tree (Widdringtonia cedarbergensis) from extinction.

Numbers of the African penguin, which is endemic to South Africa and Namibia, are rapidly declining. Perhaps most of us aren€™t aware of this, but African penguins are up against climate change, overfishing, oil pollution and penguin egg and guano collection.

With rhinos on the brink of extinction, it is no surprise that amazing conservation efforts are attempted in Africa to save them. Enough so to be noticed by an international panel of judges. Raoul du Toit, International Rhino Foundation€™s African Rhino Programme Coordinator, has received the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize (Africa).

Maties PAW (Promoting Animal Welfare) hosted a nail painting event on Friday 8 April in Stellenbosch to raise awareness and get students to join hands in the fight against rhino poaching. More than 300 rhinos have been killed this year, which means one is poached every 21 hours!

The environmental pressure group GeaSphere submitted a formal complaint to the FSC €“ Forest Stewardship Council €“ on Tuesday, 11 January 2011.

A pack of 14 Endangered African Wild Dogs has been reintroduced into the Tembe Elephant Park, following extensive community liaison and preparation work over the past year.

A frog researcher at Stellenbosch University (SU) is calling on nature lovers in the Western Cape to help her with research on the occurrence and distribution of the painted reed frog in the Province by reporting when they hear the call of this little frog in their region.

Farmers and farm workers are encouraged to report mortalities of Cranes and show where they occur, so that they can be recorded and some proactive measures can be taken to prevent such incidents in the future (such as marking of power lines with flappers).

On the Cape Peninsula hundreds of tiny little endangered western leopard toadlets as small as a finger nail have started the beginning of their terrestrial life with an overwhelming 1 kilometer hike from the breeding ponds to our gardens.

Please join us inwardly for a special prayer and meditation vigil for the elephants - the magnificent, gentle giants, guardians of the Earth - on 12/12, Sunday December 12, at 12 noon €“ 1 pm in your time zone (or for as long as you are able and at a time that works for you that day). Performing a sacred ceremony or chanting a mantra would also be appropriate. Whatever calls to you.

Of the 9 856 bird species on Earth, 1 226 are listed as Critically Endangered, Endangered or Vulnerable. Forty of these occur in South Africa and of these 20 are endemic. Although extinction is a natural phenomenon, species are now disappearing from our planet at an alarming rate, and studies have shown that this is mostly driven by human activities.

There is growing concern about the impact that illegal trade in is having on wildlife populations world-wide, while the potential risk posed to indigenous species should these imported alien animals escape, is also cause for concern.

Humans have known for centuries that the Dargle is a really beautiful place to live, but recently some Dassies discovered this Midlands treasure too. Refugees who found themselves unwelcome in the Itala game reserve have made a new home in the mist-belt forests for which the area is famous.

The end of seafood by 2048! The ocean without fish. Imagine the global consequences. The award winning film THE END OF THE LINE by Rupert Murray had me sitting at the edge of my seat €“ and swallowing back the tears.

It was hoped that the presence of the Zambian antelope would be a lifeline for the survival of the giant sable, described as critically endangered on the Red List of Threatened Species. It was feared that the giant sable had completely died out in the wild because of the effects of the Angolan civil war.