A farmer’s son from the Fens has launched a £5bn appeal to save the world’s wildlife.
Wisbech-born Richard Prinsloo Curson wants to build an animal and ecological conservation park to preserve every species on the planet on 100sqkm of land in South Africa.
Different regions of the world would be recreated in giant domes.
Mr Prinsloo Curson, 40, has worked in South Africa since 2011. He founded Noah’s Ark in 2016 with his South African husband Hein Prinsloo. The couple have devoted their lives to the project.
Mr Prinsloo Curson said: ”The animal kingdom is at crisis point.
“Climate change, over development, farming, ocean plastic, big game hunting and poaching are driving thousands of species off the face of the planet.
“We owe it to future generations to preserve the natural world or our children will be left fighting the horrific consequences of climate change to survive”.
WWF (the World Wild Fund for nature) reported in 2018, that humans have already wiped out 60pc of Earth’s animals since 1970.
If humanity continues with over development, poaching and hunting, polluting the oceans and affecting climate change, the natural world will be gone completely in 20 years, according to the report.
The new estimate of the massacre of wildlife is made in a report by the WWF involving 59 scientists from across the globe.
It says the vast and growing consumption of food and resources by the global population is destroying the web of life, billions of years in the making, upon which human society depends.
To help fund the project, Mr Prinsloo Curson and the team behind Noah’s Ark are putting out a worldwide call for donations from £1 to billions of pounds inviting donations from the world’s individuals, businesses, entrepreneurs and philanthropists.
They hope to make the Noahs Ark Go Fund Me page the largest in history.
A film crew and photographic team has followed every aspect of their journey from seeking approval from the King of the Zulus, to the development of the ambitious plans, meeting the animals, the obstacles, trials and tribulations the team have faced throughout. The 12-part television series Noah’s Ark will be broadcast in the UK and distributed to broadcasters globally, in January 2021.
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