News

On Thursday 18 October a group of Dane Court sixth formers accompanied by Mr White visited the Royal Geographical Society for their evening lecture "Healing without Harm". The focus of the talk was to highlight the illegal trafficking of wildlife products, the reasons for it and how to stop it. Speakers included Mark Carwardine (from TV's Last Chance to Sea), David Shepherd (DSWF), Debbie Banks (Environmental Investigation Agency) and Jill Robinson (Animals Asia). The talk was hard hitting but also inspiring. Angel who had a tear or two in her eye during part of the talk said "The situation of moon bears shocked me, but highlights to me the importance of education as seen by the changes in China".

However the material painted a very worrying picture, explaining how people are stockpiling animal products so when they become extinct they will be able to sell the furs or horns for a huge amount of money. A "highlight" for Joe was Mark Carwardine's story of his relationship with Max, a two ton white rhino that was killed last year in one of the most protected reserves in Africa. This meant a lot to Joe as himself and Angel had spoken earlier in the year at the Natural History Museum about the joys of spending time with a rhino in the wild when they visited Namibia with Mr White and Mrs Opperman.

There were however positive moments that showed the progress that is being made and hopefully these illegal practices can be stopped and Mr White stated it was pleasing to witness the pupils starting to see how their classroom learning helped them understand this global problem. This was clear to see when after the lecture the pupils chatted with Mark about their thoughts and experiences as they continue to develop their international understanding.