The Rhino Charge, an annual off-road motorsport competition, raised Ksh 140 million held at Sabor in Kimalel, Baringo county.
The off-road motorsport had targeted to raise KSh100m conservation funds.
“This year, through the fundraising from the teams and guard post sponsors, a grand total of Ksh 140,432,208 was raised.
In addition, Ksh5,069,004 was raised for community sponsorship which will be used for a local project,” the Rhino Charge Committee and the Rhino Ark Board of Directors said Sunday.
“I would also like to urge the government to emphasise on improving community conservancy to improve livelihoods of the locals to help mitigate the impact of covid-19 as we have done in Aberdares and Mau,” Rhino Charge Committee Chairman Don White said.
The 2021 @Rhino_Charge spectacularly ends by raising Ksh. 140,432,208 that will be ploughed back to various forest and wildlife conservation projects which include electric fencing of critical forest ecosystems for the protection of natural resources and livelihoods support. pic.twitter.com/5qvOuRpEkO
— Kenya Forest Service (@KeForestService) July 18, 2021
The Kenya Forest Service said the 32nd edition’s success will go in the record as a testament of hope for the conservation-centred sport, despite it being held against the COVID- 19 backdrop “Where 65 entrants and in the spirit of recovery still managed to raise this substantial amount towards conservation.”
“We as KFS are most thankful for being the direct beneficiaries of the 650km electric fence constructed so far, that is 400 kms Aberdares Forest Ecosystem fence, 43kms of Eburu forest fence, and approximately 200km of what will be 450km electric fence around the Mt Kenya Forest Ecosystems,” noted Julius Kamau, Chief Conservator of Forests.
Since its conception in 1989, the annual Rhino Charge has raised over KSh1.7 billion towards the conservation of Mt Kenya, Aberdares and Mt Eburu forests.
The funds have also been used in the maintenance of the 400km Aberdare electric fence and the 43.3km perimeter electric fence around Mt Eburu.
Proceeds from the vehicle entry fee to the venue go towards supporting host community projects like water tanks, schools, dispensaries and strengthening security.
The 2021 competition attracted 65 entrants, who had to go through 13 checkpoints, to reach the final destination. Only 44 of them got to the finish line.
What an amazing #RhinoCharge that was! 🤩🙌A huge thank you to the teams, sponsors , local community, spectators & organizers for making this happen! Congratulations to all the winners &participants💪 The provisional results are now up on our website😃https://t.co/h0c6EXzLQH pic.twitter.com/wNu9sdGi5K
— Rhino Charge (@Rhino_Charge) July 18, 2021
