Javea digs deep for the elephants

A GALA dinner at Javea Parador was held in aid of the elephant and rhino poaching crisis.

The evening was a great success, with 113 supporters in attendance, and helped raise additional funds for the wildlife organisations. It was held on Wednesday October 28, and was the last in a series of five fundraising initiatives in Javea. The first three events were the Spanish premiere screenings of the film When Giants Fall, which was shown to full houses at the Javea Players Studio Theatre in September.

The fourth was the charity walk in Javea on October 4, when about 250 walkers joined an initiative that took place in over 133 other locations around the globe, to march for elephants and rhinos. The Javea march started at the Arenal, and ended at the sports centre in the port, and was organised to demand an end to the ivory and rhino horn trade. Prior to the walk, the organisers gave presentations at local schools to explain about wildlife and the threats it now faces.

Many of the school children joined the walk and brought completed sponsorship forms, jointly raising additional funds for the cause. The gala dinner, the fifth event, included a short presentation to explain the seriousness of the current poaching epidemic, a raffle and an auction of some excellent donated items, including an oil painting by Rosa Mansell, and an elephant sculpture by local artist, Toni Marí.

The five events raised more than €8,200 for three wildlife organisations: the PAMS Foundation in Tanzania, which supports rangers against poaching, www.pamsfoundation.org; Wild Life Direct, Kenya, which is set up to fight corruption and support jurisdiction in courts in Kenya against poachers www.wildlifedirect.org, and the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, Kenya, which supports an elephant orphanage and release programme www.sheldrickwild lifetrust.org.

Donations can be made direct to their websites, or via www.justgiving.com/GMFER JAVEA2015. Petitions have been sent to the American and Chinese Ambassadors in Madrid. In addition, the organisers have set up an online petition to President Uhuru Kenyatta, which has attracted 2,693 signatures to date.