The Guardian Angel Wildlife and Marine Trust Board

The Trust comprises a Patron, three Trustees, and a remuneration committee. All members are very experienced in their various business sectors and are dedicated to the preservation and conservation of Wildlife and Marine animals.

Overview

The Board of Trustees for the Guardian Angel Wildlife and Marine Trust is a group of like- minded, highly dedicated and professional individuals who are passionate about the conservation of the richness of biodiversity on the African continent and are committed to the mission and goals of this Trust.

Our Trustees serve as the governing body of the Guardian Angel Wildlife and Marine Trust, and are responsible for providing strategic direction, oversight and support to advance the organization's mission and strategic objectives of preserving and protecting our wildlife and marine ecosystems.

Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership: Our Trustees bring their visionary leadership skills into guiding this Trust and to achieving its long-term goals and objectives. The Trustees set our strategic priorities and ensure that they are aligned with the Trust's vision, mission and values.
Governance: To oversee the governance framework of the Trust, including compliance with legal and regulatory requirements, ethical standards and best practices in the management of an NPO.
Financial Oversight: To ensure the Trust's financial sustainability by overseeing budgeting, financial planning, and fiscal management. The Board will monitor financial performance, investments, and fundraising activities to support the Trust's programs and initiatives.
Resource Development: To actively participate in fundraising efforts, donor cultivation, and partnership development to secure financial resources and support for the Trust's conservation projects and programs.
Program Evaluation: To periodically monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the Trust's conservation programs and initiatives and to provide feedback and guidance to improve program outcomes and increase impact.
Risk Management: To identify and proactively mitigate risks that may affect the Trust's operations, reputation, or ability to fulfill its mission. To implement policies and procedures that ensure sound risk management practices.
Advocacy and Outreach: To serve as ambassadors and advocates for the Trust, promoting awareness of wildlife and marine conservation issues and mobilizing support from stakeholders, policymakers, and the public.
Ethical Leadership: To uphold the highest standards of integrity, transparency and accountability in all aspects of the Trust's operations, interventions and decision-making processes.

"My love of animals has helped me understand why Noah chose animals and not people to accompany him on the Ark. The time to save them again has arrived - it is incumbent upon us to act decisively and immediately."

Mr. Michael Judin

OUR PATRON

H.E. Lt. Gen. Dr. Seretse Khama Ian Khama

Lt. Gen. Khama, the former President of the Republic of Botswana and the son of the first President of an independent Botswana, Sir Seretse Goitsebeng Maphiri Khama (1966), has been a champion of wildlife conservation for many years. During his terms as both Vice President and then as President, he promoted his country’s indigenous wildlife as a viable competitor to its wealth in diamonds, as Botswana’s
major drawcard to the world.

One of President Ian Khama’s most courageous and noteworthy acts was to put in place a total ban on hunting – which was a very lucrative business in Botswana. This significant step put Ian Khama into the spotlight as Africa’s most conservation-minded leader, a man of vision who recognize and appreciate Botswana’s indigenous ecological wealth, and Africa as the prime repository of the planet’s wild-
and marine life.

Ian Khama is a hands-on leader who continues to lead by example, and is arguably Africa’s most ardent conservationist. He is the right man at the right place to head up a new and highly effective conservation trust.

A few words from our highly-esteemed Patron:

“What is our purpose? What are our responsibilities as people towards the planet Earth on which we live? To build or to destroy? We have done well on both counts. But destroying is not to be considered in any way as ‘doing well’ – especially in relation to our fauna and flora. We have caused the extinction of species, never to be recovered. We have destroyed forests, polluted the air we breathe and the water we drink. And through our own doing, it is getting worse. Is it too late to stop the inevitable? Maybe it is, maybe it is not. However, as long as there are those of us who still care, we will do everything possible to arrest, and perhaps even to reverse, the current trend in poaching and illicit wildlife trade, and thus prevent any further decline in the numbers, or even the extinction of, our endangered Wildlife and Marine animals.”

OUR TRUSTEES

FOUNDER AND TRUSTEE

Colonel (Hon) Raymond Clive Kramer

Founder and a Trustee of the Guardian Angel Wildlife and Marine Trust (NPO). Founder and Chief Executive Officer: Pacifico International Technology (Pty) Ltd T/A Pacifico Group.

An esteemed and well-known businessman both locally and internationally, Mr Raymond Kramer is a passionate advocate of wildlife conservation. He brings much-needed synergy to the world of hard business and the sometimes idealistic world of Biodiversity, Wild- and Marine life protection and conservation. Raymond’s ability to navigate his way through challenging business strategies, operations and negotiations is complemented by his prowess in the aviation industry. This unique set of aptitudes makes Raymond the ideal Guardian of the Guardian Angel Wildlife and
Marine Trust.

Raymond thinks "outside of the box", drawing on both his intuition and vast experience of the tumultuous African continent. He exhibits a unique level of foresight and has an unparalleled ability to turn a vision into reality. His ability to assess an opportunity and to introduce new possibilities, new energy and a strong strategic direction is legendary.

TRUSTEE

Mr. Michael Judin

Senior Partner at Judin Combrinck Inc. Attorneys, JHB, RSA, Member of the Remuneration Committee of the GAWM Trust

Michael Judin is one of South Africa’s foremost attorneys. He obtained his law degree at the University of the Witwatersrand and commenced practising in Johannesburg at the end of 1969. He is the author of several published articles, both nationally and internationally.

Michael, having been admitted as an attorney in Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland, and being an honorary member of the American Bar Association, is well placed to give the Trust direction and counsel on any legal matters. He is director of, and legal adviser to, the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in South Africa. He has recently been appointed as the co-chair of the International Law Sub-committee of the Corporate Governance Committee of the American Bar Association. This is truly a prestigious appointment.

Moving forward, Mr Judin aims to do his best to use his position to influence and enforce good corporate governance standards around the world and to keep the world updated on developments of South Africa’s world-renowned King Report on Corporate Governance, thus helping the international community to understand the wealth of opportunity that South Africa offers.

Michael was a Patron of WESSA (The Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa) and has now retired by rotation. He was invited to an exclusive anti-corruption workshop for legal professionals designed by the International Bar Association in collaboration with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

Having Mr Judin as a Trustee of the Guardian Angel Wildlife and Marine Trust, will ensure that everything the Trust and its members do, falls strictly within the spirit and letter of the law. His comprehensive knowledge of international as well as local law, applicable to all the countries in which Guardian Angel Wildlife and Marine Trust will be working, will be pivotal in promoting our efforts to conserve South Africa's wildlife, biodiversity, and marine life in the most ethical and scrupulous of ways.

TRUSTEE

Dr. Smaragda Louw

PhD in Psychology. Founder and Director of Ban Animal Trading (BAT), an NPO focusing on the
protection of all animals.

Dr Smaragda Louw is the ‘Conscience’ of the Trust. She has championed animal rights for more than 40 years. The BAT NPO is opposed to all trade in animals and has generated three seminal reports, in collaboration with the EMS Foundation, on South Africa’s international trade in wildlife.

The BAT report on Lion Bones was the much-needed push for a colloquium in Parliament, which has resulted in the Minister’s pledging to phase out captive Lion breeding. The report on the RSA’s trade in Wildlife with China resulted in a meeting requested by Minister Barbara Creecy (Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment of the Republic of South Africa) to discuss the CITES system (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered
Species of Wild Fauna and Flora ) that has been touted to be implemented in SA, but which
is completely dysfunctional and often contributes to the illegal trade in wildlife.