On Sunday, the Duke of Cambridge departed Heathrow Airport on a specially branded aircraft to undertake his trip to Namibia, Tanzania and Kenya.
The British Airways A380 aircraft displayed the message #EndWildlifeCrime near the front the plane. Prince William posed in front of the plane with Head of Conservation Programmes for United for Wildlife Naomi Doak, Senior First Officer Holly Tucker, Manager for British Airways Community Investment Mary Barry and CEO of Tusk Trust Charlie Mayhew.
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The main reason for the visits is connected with Prince William’s work as President for the umbrella organisation United for Wildlife and the Tusk Trust. The tour also falls before the 2018 Illegal Wildlife Trade Conference in London on the 10th & 11th October.
Whilst in Namibia, the Prince will have a meeting with the vice president Nangolo Mbumba, as well as attending a function at the residence of the British High Commissioner, Kate Airey, which celebrates UK-Namibia relations. In addition to hearing about conservation work in Namibia, he will also be chatting to business leaders, young people and mental health activists. No doubt comparing their comments with those he has heard from mental health activists in the UK.
Moving on to Tanzania, he will visit the port of Dar es Salaam to see the work being done on the ground on stopping the combat the illegal wildlife trade. It is depleting animal numbers in the wild to levels where in some cases the fluffy toys he may well be given for his children will just be memories of animals extinct in the wild when they are his age. He will also spend time with President John Magufuli to discuss the work Tanzania is doing to thwart illegal trafficking.
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Finally, while in Kenya, the Duke who is Colonel in Chief of the Irish Guards will get a chance to visit the 1st Battalion Irish Guards battlegroup who are currently working with infantry from the Kenyan army. He will be able to see from his visit the benefits that can be gained from both sides from this co-operation.
Additional reporting by Peter Anderson
