The Endangered Wildlife Trust Ex-Chairman looks back on 15 years of leadership
As the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) bids farewell to Board of Trustees Chair Dirk Ackerman, we also welcome him as Deputy Chair of the Board.
In his new position, Ackerman will be supporting newly elected Board Chair Muhammad Seedat during a year-long transition.
Ackerman, who is by no means retiring from playing a key leadership role in one of South Africa’s most loved conservation NGOs, speaks with fondness of his time as Chair of the EWT Board, assuring all that he will always remain attached to the conservation cause that is close to his heart.
Ackerman, who served as Board Chair for almost 15 years has also been a member of the Board for two decades. His passion for the natural world was developed as a child playing in the bush and accompanying his conservationist neighbour on forays into the veld to identify and locate different species.
His first acquaintance with the EWT was when, as CEO of the Airports Company South Africa at the time, he reached out to erstwhile CEO, Dr John Ledger, a keen birder, about the concerns he had at the way the bird problem at airports was being handled. Ackerman was unhappy at the methods being used by the airports company to rid the runways of birds to reduce bird strikes by planes. This led to the EWT entering a Memorandum of Understanding with the Airports Company SA to employ a variety of environmentally friendly practices to deter birds and other wildlife from ACSA airfields, one of which was the pioneering use of dogs to scare birds away from the airfield. Similar projects were also undertaken by the EWT in collaboration with the SA Air Force at military airports.
Under the leadership of Ackerman and the Board, working closely with CEO Yolan Friedmann, the EWT is today a stable and thriving organisation marked by good governance. It is an organisation that can ably compete internationally through its conservation work, as well as in terms of its credible research and work with communities.
“As we move into the next 50 years of the EWT, the aim is to ensure that as we internationalise the EWT we keep ownership of the Endangered species profile,” Ackerman said.
Ackerman speaks with pride about the decision by the Board to acquire land for conservation. This includes the Soutpansberg Protected Area in Limpopo where more than 1,800 species are now being protected; and where eco-tourism, regenerative agriculture and community development projects are underway. Another land purchase includes the EWT’s Conservation Campus in Midrand which, as a conservation hub, is showcasing South Africa’s biomes and is an example of urban conservation to all who visit.
“The old and new EWT, the EWT of the future, is like chalk and cheese. Through hard work, we have improved the capacity of the organisation so that it is now at a point where it can expand and reach new heights, fully able to meet its three objectives: Saving Species, Conserving Habitats and Benefiting People.
“The EWT has proved that it can deliver, that it is proficient and an example of good corporate governance. We can deliver at the coalface of matters of environmental importance. Our objective is to be leaders in science and environmental matters.
Mahatma Gandhi once said: “The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated.”
“I will continue to put my entire heart and soul into making sure that our wildlife is respected; our environment is conserved and the communities that depend on both are thriving parts of our story,” said Ackerman.