The content on this page is not written by Polity.org.za, but is supplied by third parties. This content does not constitute news reporting by Polity.org.za.

This Office is pleased to inform the public that H.E. the President Lt.
General Seretse Khama Ian Khama was yesterday hounored by International
Union for the Conservation of Nature (ICUN) with a lifetime honorary
membership for his "life-long commitment to the environment".

The award was presented at the World Conservation Congress, which is
taking place this week in South Korea, on the recommendation of the IUCN
Council to individuals who have made exceptional contributions to
conservation.

His Excellency was one of 11 individuals so honoured at the Congress, the
other 10 awardees being:

 . Dr Abdulaziz Abuzinada, Saudi Arabia
  Ms Angela Cropper, Trinidad and Tobago
 . Dr Aila Keto, Australia
 . Mr Veit Koester, Denmark
 . Dr Russell Mittermeier, USA
 . Dr Ian Player, South Africa
 . Professor Nicholas Robinson, USA
 . Dr Marina Silva, Brazil
 . Mr Achim Steiner, Germany
 . Professor Randolph Robert Thaman, Fiji

In awarding the honour the ICUN further released the following profile of
the President:

ICUN Profile of His Excellency, The State President, Lieutenant General
Seretse Khama Ian Khama, Botswana

President Lt. Gen. S.K.I.Khama of Botswana has had a life-long commitment
to the environment. He was Vice Chair of the Kalahari Conservation
Society (KCS), Botswana's oldest environmental NGO, for 22 years and is
currently the Patron of the organization.

He has a keen interest in community participatory conservation projects
and in 1990 mobilized the people of Botswana to establish the Khama Rhino
Sanctuary at a time when there were only six animals left in Botswana.
Thanks to his efforts, their numbers have increased and they have been
re-introduced into the wild.

In 1991, he became the first chair and founding trustee of Mokolodi
nature reserve (educational park in Botswana) and is now the Patron of
the Trust. He has encouraged and promoted conservation trusts like Moremi
Gorge, Lepokole hills historical sites, and Qchwihaba caves: local
projects that benefit communities through ecotourism. He also started
Botswana's first anti- poaching unit through KCS and introduced the
Botswana Defence Force anti-poaching function which still undertakes that
function to date. President Lt. Gen. Khama also serves on the Board of
Conservation International.

He has received several conservation awards including the Africa
Conservation Award from the Safari Club of Washington in 1991, the
tourism industry award of Botswana in 1996, the Paul Harris Fellow and
Endangered Wildlife Trust Statesman Award in 2001, and the International
Conservation Caucus Foundation Teddy Roosevelt Conservation Award in 2011.
 
In May 2012 he co-hosted together with Conservation International, a
summit on sustainable development in Africa that brought together ten
African nations and numerous public and private sector partners to voice
their support for the value of natural capital in national accounting.
The summit culminated in the Gaborone Declaration which contains a set of
concrete principles and development goals that move the value of natural
capital to the centre of development planning.
 
The Kalahari Conservation Society and the Khama Rhino Sanctuary are
Members of IUCN.