Two Local Teens Headed to South Africa

Two local teens, Arthur Tisseront, a Junior at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology (TJHSST) and Julia Chirite, a Senior at Langley High School, were selected by the Kashmir World Foundation (KwF) as the U.S. Student Delegates participating in the inaugural WORLD YOUTH RHINO SUMMIT on September 21-23 (incorporating World Rhino Day) at the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Game Reserve in South Africa. Arthur and Julia are both Interns at KwF and taught this summer at the DaVinci Challenge: Build a Drone workshop at the Great Falls Library. What has drone technology got to do with Wildlife Conservation? It turns out quite a lot! Drone technology can have a great impact on helping rangers protect wildlife, and the two have been mentored by teams from the Wildlife Conservation Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Challenge, learning all there is to know about drones and avionics. Drone technology may well become an important factor in the war against poaching and wildlife crimes.

Arthur and Julia were carefully selected for their leadership qualities and will join 100 other Youth Delegates from countries around the world such as Canada, China, Sweden, the United Kingdom and Vietnam, among others. They will participate in a 3-day summit, complete with a United Nations-format panel discussion on topics such as Demand Reduction (of Rhino Horn), The Human Tragedy: the Poverty and Poaching Link and Rhino Poaching Awareness Campaigns- what should they look like?, among other topics. They will also witness a live-simulated anti-poaching mission complete with helicopters and military park rangers. In attendance will be Kingsley Holgate, author, TV personality, humanitarian, explorer and fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, Dr. Ian Player, world renowned Rhino Conservationist and other high-profile Conservation Experts.

This group of 100 future Youth Conservation Leaders aims to start a worldwide call to action by signing a World Youth Wildlife Declaration they hope will be acknowledged by important global organizations such as the United Nations, IUCN and CITES.

Follow their journey on Instagram starting 9/18! #RhinoSummitUSA2014

Visit http://www.kashmirworldfoundation.org/ to learn more about Arthur and Julia’s upcoming trip!