Dirk Engelbrecht
Dirk is the CEO and co-founder of Wild Serve NPC, an Urban Biodiversity Conservation non-profit organisation.
They have developed a 3-prong approach to reduce the risk of injury, illness and orphaning of indigenous wildlife. This is a true prioritisation of the animal’s needs before ours. They start at grass-root education of our future thought leaders within their schools in long-term programmes. They have innovated a practical mentorship approach which inspires a culture change through their 3 Es: Exploration, Experimenting and Expression. While this takes effect in society, they are able to offer technically advanced rescue services for the urban theatre.
This mainly involves rescuing animals in distress or relocating animals who have not adapted sufficiently to the urban environment. Their third inter-supportive tool is preserving and restoring our fragile and rapidly disappearing wildlife habitats and ecosystems. This includes gaining conservation management input in expanses of green spaces in cities. By incorporating wildlife rehabilitators with young natural scientists and early childhood development educators they have created the first multi-specialist team that will insure your grandchildren will live with the same animals you do today.
Wild Serve's highlights for 2020 have been the following:
Environment DM, Michael Schrenk, was invited to co-author a book on sustainability in conjunction with peer National Geographic Explorers.
Michael was certified as a National Geographic Educator and was granted a full scholarship to attend the United Nations Summer Academy.
Their work filmed as the BBC Africa promotional material representing the African continent for the David Attenborough series Seven Worlds, One Planet was aired.
The organisation was awarded The Nedbank Local Hero Award for 2020. Accompanying prize money was spent entirely on wildlife emergency care equipment.
CEO, Dirk Engelbrecht, and environmental DM, were elected chairman and head of conservation, respectively, for Golden Harvest Park.
With the massive support of Consort Technical Underwriters they obtained a new property to start their Wildlife Special Projects Centre.