Prince William paid tribute to the "unrelenting dedication and commitment" of Africa’s wildlife warriors at the Tusk Conservation Awards on Wednesday (04.10.17).
The 35-year-old royal was unable to make it to the event in Cape Town, South Africa to honour the winners in person but he did appear on video link to thank the winners for their big efforts in conserving wildlife.
He said: "I worry a great deal that our generation is not meeting our moral obligation to leave this planet in better shape than we inherited it. Our children and grandchildren will not thank us if we fail in our duty to reverse the decline in so many species."
Archbishop Desmond Tutu was on hand to present The Prince William Award for Conservation in Africa to Rian Labuschagne, who has dedicated his life to help preserve some of the world’s most endangered species.
Tusk CEO Charlie Mayhew said: "Thanks to Rian, Chad has witnessed one of conservations’ great success stories unfold with the revival of Zakouma National Park and its decimated elephant population."
It comes after Prince William gave an impassioned speech where he spoke of his fears that the African elephant will be distinct within the next two decades.
He said: "By the time my daughter Charlotte was born last year, the numbers of Savannah elephants had crashed to just 350,000. At the current pace of illegal poaching, when Charlotte turns 25 the African elephant will be gone from the wild. We have the chance to say that rhino horn does not cure anything and does not need a legal market."
Prince William honours Africa’s wildlife warriors
