Comvita Limited (NZX:CVT) Jamie Joseph and the New Zealand charity she founded, Saving the Wild, have come a long way since she first approached Comvita in 2019 for a Mānuka honey donation to help treat rhino survivors, who were impacted by poaching in Africa.

Fast forward to the present day and her team’s epic battle to take down rhino poaching syndicates in South Africa is the inspiration for a movie currently being produced by Hollywood star Margot Robbie and her production company LuckyChap.

On February 22nd, Jamie hosted a Saving the Wild fundraising dinner at Onslow in Auckland with restauranteurs Josh & Helen Emett. Much needed funds were raised for their groundbreaking mission to introduce meaningful legislation for rhino crimes. The menu featured Comvita Mānuka honey and guests were treated to Comvita gift bags of some of Saving the Wild’s favourite products, including our Medihoney™ Wound Gel which is used to treat injured wildlife in Africa. Comvita also donated two items for the auction – a Makino First Harvest Sculpture and a ‘BlueSky’ bee experience.

In addition, this month marks a major milestone for the partnership, with the Saving the Wild Bee Keeping Project becoming sustainable. The project is supported and financed by Comvita and implemented by their Kenyan partner Big Life Foundation (BLF).

After surviving the 2022 drought, a promising harvest of 235kg of honey in July 2023 was followed by plentiful rainfall, and the BLF team are right now harvesting and processing the honey in the Amboseli-Kimana ecosystem. Saving the Wild acacia honey is sold in safari lodges and retailers around Kenya, and profits will be invested into school scholarships for local Maasai children - the future guardians of this great wild place.

“The two greatest challenges the planet’s wildlife is facing are poaching and habitat loss. Thanks to Comvita we are able to secure wild land through beekeeping,” Saving the Wild Founder Jamie Joseph says, “It’s been a very positive thing to have something else to focus on other than organised crime. It’s made me a better, more holistic conservationist and I cannot thank them enough for their unwavering support.”

Saving the Wild Women was the second bee project Comvita collaborated on, with the goal of empowering young Maasai women to gain financial independence through beekeeping.

“Maasai culture is a patriarchal society prone to child marriage, so these small steps are actually big steps because we are contributing to a shift in culture, one independent young woman at a time,” concludes Jamie.

Nowadays the flowers are in full bloom and the honey is capped, and this year a small group of local girls will participate in their first harvest, with ongoing training until they complete their schooling and can take up beekeeping as a full-time vocation.

Comvita Chief Executive David Banfield said “We’re extremely proud to support Jamie and Saving the Wild. At Comvita we believe in living in harmony with nature and that’s exactly what Saving the Wild is all about - our relationship just made perfect sense.”

From 8-10 March 2024, 30% of online sales at www.comvita.co.nz will be donated to Saving the Wild. Together, we really can make a difference.

Please support Jamie in her pursuit of justice by following her on Instagram @jamie_savingthewild

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