•The 10-hour race that raises funds for conservation attracted over 50 participants.
•Last year, the event managed to raise Sh140 million.
This year’s Rhino Charge raised a remarkable Sh156 million, thanks to the steady economic recovery Kenya is making from Covid-19.
The event was held in Kajiado county. For the second year running, the overall Rhino Charge 2022 winner was Car No 38 entered by Sean Avery (Bundufundi), followed by Car No 22 entered by Gray Cullen (The Smiling Shenzis) and Car No 5 entered by Philip Walton (Team 5) in second and third places.
This year, 54 out of a maximum of 65 potential competitors took part in the charge, due to a variety of reasons, including mechanical failure.
Prizes were awarded on Saturday morning at a colourful ceremony held at the venue in Mosiro.
The event was attended by, among others, Kenya Forest Service and Rhino Ark Kenya Charitable Trust chairman Peter Kinyua, Chief Conservator of Forests Julius Kamau, and Kenya Wildlife Services director of partnership and enterprise Edwin Wanyonyi.
The highest fundraiser was Peter Kinyua (Car 23) who secured Sh39,517,947 up from last year’s figure of Sh36,243,250.
The second and third positions were taken by Adil Khawaja of Car 44 (AK44) with Sh21,733,677 up from Sh21,361,001 last year and Stanley Kinyanjui of Car 62 (Magnate Chargers) with Sh10,840,000 down from Sh 11,713,500.
Kinyua’s Car No 23 scooped the Victor Ludorum Award, which rewards winners for distance and funds raised, followed by Philip Walton’s Car No. 5 and Mark Glen’s Car No 48 in second and third positions.
The Modified Class Category was won by Car No 38 entered by Sean Avery (Bundufundi), followed by Car No 22 entered by Gray Cullen (The Smiling Shenzis) and Philip Walton’s Car No. 5 (Team 5) in second and third places, respectively.
In the Unmodified Class, Car No 9 entered by John Bowden (Gumtree 4x4) was ranked top, followed by Car No 10 entered by Salim Walimohamed (Bush Rover), and Car No 19 registered by Petra Somen (Bush Babes) in second and third positions.
The grueling 10-hour race that helps to raise funds towards conservation attracted over 50 chargers.
Last year, the event managed to raise Sh140 million.
Rhino Ark executive director Christian Lambrechts said the in-kind contribution was over Sh60 million.
“On Mt Kenya, we have built as of today 232km of electric fence. We have also built 34km of a low fence with outriggers,” he said.
Lambrechts said they intend to complete the 300km mark of the fence on Mt Kenya by the end of this year.
He said over the last few months, they have spent a lot of resources in combating wildfires in Aberdare, Mt Kenya, and Eburu forests.
Lambrechts said to mitigate the impact of fire, they last year started doing fire breaks.
“We are committing that by the end of this year, we will complete 49km of fire breaks in Aberdare and Mt Kenya,” he said.
Lambrechts said they have received a large consignment of fire fighting equipment from South Africa that will be deployed to Eburu to combat fires.
He said they are maintaining the 680km of fence built to date.
Lambrechts said they are also involved in extensive conservation programmes benefiting 178 primary and secondary schools and three teams of community scouts involved in desnaring and forest patrol in Aberdare, Mt Kenya, and Eburu.
“All that work cannot be done without funds,” he said.
Lambrechts said they have secured from UNDP a donation of Sh42 million towards the fencing of Kakamega forest and 15km of the fence will be completed by March next year.
CCF Kamau said the outcome of the competition has registered tangible fruits.
“What we do today is something that will have a permanent footprint on the future generations,” Kamau said.
Kamau said the fencing of the Aberdare ecosystem, which is now safe and sound, has brought massive benefits to Kenyans.
The CCF said the national forest resource assessment done last year showed that forest cover and tree cover had increased.
The report was launched on May 27 by President Uhuru Kenyatta in State House.
According to the report, the forest cover had hit 8.83 per cent while the tree cover is at 12.13 per cent.
Kamau said the effort that has gone into the initiative has been massive from all.
Kinyua lauded the participants, saying their contribution has been massive.
He said the figures on tree and forest cover were real as they were done by a multiagency team.
“I want to thank Kenyans as a whole who have taken tree planting in a big way,” he said.
Kinyua said the fences have helped KFS to manage forest resources in the country.
Image: GIBERT KOECH
Last year, Kinyua’s team raised over Sh34 million and was closely followed by Adil Khawaja’s team with over Sh 21 million while Edward Muniu helped raise over Sh11 million.
After the event, Sh5 million was given to the host community for the project of their choice.
Lordship Africa chairman Jonathan Jackson took part in the charge.
Jackson said they have earmarked over Sh150 million to help conserve forests and biodiversity in the country.
“Our real estate projects that we do are very eco-friendly. We use reusable water, we have solar panels and other eco-friendly construction activities which we use for the projects,” he said.
Jackson said everyone should support conservation, adding that they have sponsored conservation for over 10 years.
“In the last two years, we have put Sh5 million to Rhino Ark. In Malindi, we have donated over Sh20 million for conserving original forestland,” he said.
Wanyonyi said the Kenya Wildlife Service was implementing its strategic plan based on three pillars: conservation, collaboration, and enterprise.
“Today, as we collaborate and work with Rhino Ark and the good job of chargers, you properly aligned in terms of collaboration because we appreciate that we cannot do conservation alone, it is a collective responsibility,” Wanyonyi said.
Edited by Henry Makori