The Prince of Wales stepped out at The Savoy Hotel in London to celebrate the work of leading Africa-based conservationists at the annual Tusk Awards.
Prince William has been Patron of the Tusk Trust since 2005, one of his first patronages after graduating from St. Andrew’s University.
Prince William meeting some famous faces at this year’s Tusk Awards. (Picture by Andrew Parsons / Kensington Palace)
Since its inception 12 years ago, the Tusk Awards have recognised 58 conservation leaders across 23 African countries. These awards spotlight heroes and wildlife rangers working tirelessly to protect Africa’s natural world, with past winners successfully scaling their efforts and amplifying their conservation impact across the continent.
Dressed in a navy suit, Prince William was welcomed by Tusk founder Charlie Mayhew, who introduced him to the charity’s key supporters and award winners. The event also saw appearances by notable figures, including Idris Elba, Mark Knopfler, and Ronnie and Sally Wood.
William handed out the prize at the Awards evening. (Picture by Andrew Parsons / Kensington Palace)
Prince William was on hand to present awards throughout the evening. Presenting the Tusk Award for Conservation in Africa, William handed the prize to Edward Aruna, with the Award recognising an emerging trailblazer in the arena. Aruna is Founder and Managing Director of the Reptile and Amphibian Programme in Sierra Leone.
The Tusk Wildlife Ranger Award was given to Claver Ntoyinkima, with the award recognising the bravery of individuals working on the front lines of African conservation sites who work tirelessly to protect increasingly endangered wildlife. Ntoyinkima is an esteemed park ranger at Nyungwe National Park and has received the Award for his outstanding contributions to primate and bird conservation.
The Prince presented three awards: the Prince William Award for Conservation in Africa, The Tusk Award for Conservation in Africa and the Tusk Wildlife Ranger Award. (Picture by Andrew Parsons / Kensington Palace)
The third award, named after the Prince, recognises individuals with exceptional, sustained dedication to African conservation. This year’s recipient of the Prince William Award for Conservation in Africa was Nomba Ganamé, who has devoted his career to protecting Mali’s unique desert elephants.
Speaking to attendees at the awards evening, The Prince praised this year’s winners for their ‘unwavering dedication to protect Africa’s natural world’. He added how ‘tonight is a reminder that our planet continues to face terrifying environmental concerns from climate change and habitat destruction to the exploitation of natural resources and an alarming downward trend in global biodiversity’.
‘Rainforests the size of countries are disappearing. And one million species are at risk of extinction mostly due to human activity.’
Stressing that the time to support those who work in conservation is ‘now’ to help ‘prevent future generations from becoming disconnected from nature’, William concluded his speech by referencing his three children stating that he wanted George, Charlotte and Louis to ‘live in a world where swallows still migrate, gorillas still live in the cloud forests of Uganda and rhinos still roam the arid rangelands of Namibia’.
Prince William met the winners of the Tusk Conservation Awards. (Picture by Andrew Parsons / Kensington Palace)
The Prince of Wales has long been an advocate for environmental preservation and has chosen conservation as a cornerstone of his royal duties. Upon becoming the Prince of Wales in 2022, he used his first keynote speech as heir to throne to reaffirm his commitment to protecting endangered species and the environment, calling the natural world “one of our greatest assets.”
The awards evening come just a few weeks after the Earthshot week in South Africa where William helped to showcase innovative ideas that are aiming to tackle the planet’s environmental issues. Speaking in Cape Town at the fourth Earthshot Prize Awards evening, William said he that believed the world ‘can be rich impossibility in hope and in optimism that is why the Earthshot Prize exists to champion the game changers, the inventors, the makers, the creatives, the leaders, to help them build upon the amazing things they’ve already achieved to speed their innovations to scale and to inspire the next generation to create the future we all need sense that optimism’.
