Openheimer family awarded with WWF-Lonmin Award

Nicky Oppenheimer and his wife Strilli Oppenheimer were jointly presented with the prestigious WWF-Lonmin Award for environmental conservation on 15 June 2007.

The award is in recognition of their extraordinary commitment and contribution towards conservation projects aimed at fostering biodiversity with respect to mammals, birds, insects, fish, reptiles and vegetation. One of the projects noted in the award was the “Diamond Route”.

The Diamond Route is a partnership between De Beers, the Oppenheimer family company (E. Oppenheimer and Son) and AGRED (the African Gamebird Research, Education and Development Trust).

The initiative serves as a collective brand for bird conservation areas dedicated to biodiversity protection and ecotourism. Nine De Beers and Oppenheimer properties, situated in Gauteng, Northern Cape and Limpopo Province, have opened about 250 000 ha of ecologically rich and diverse protected areas to the public as part of the project.

Source: The Diamond Route