Prince Harry is shining a light on the millions of people and animals in Africa whose water source is at risk.
The royal dad made a surprise appearance last week to co-host a fundraising event for National Geographic’s documentary Into the Okavango. The film details the vulnerability of the Okavango Delta and source rivers in Angola, which are the primary water source for a million people as well as the world’s largest remaining elephant population.
In a post on the @SussexRoyal Instagram page shared Thursday, Harry is seen with a microphone talking to an audience about the issue.
“Millions of people, food security and regional power generation are dependent on these free-flowing rivers,” he said. “Threats such as uncontrolled fires, the bushmeat trade, unsustainable harvesting of the forest and rapid biodiversity loss are already destroying this incredible and delicate landscape.”
He continued, “Known by the locals as ‘source of life,’ this ecosystem is wilderness at its best, playing an absolutely crucial role for the planet, people and wildlife. This is our one and only chance to save this magnificent last Eden.”
Africa holds a special place in Prince Harry‘s heart, and he has visited the continent on many occasions beginning as a young boy. His Sentebale charity was founded in 2006 with Prince Seeiso of Lesotho to support young people affected by HIV and AIDS in Lesotho, Botswana and Malawi, and Harry has taken part in animal conservation work.
In addition, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have traveled to Africa together several times. They visited Botswana early in their relationship in the summer of 2016 and again to celebrate Meghan’s 36th birthday in 2017.
“I managed to persuade her to come and join me in Botswana. We camped out with each other under the stars. She came and joined me for five days out there, which was absolutely fantastic,” Harry said after their engagement. “So then we were really by ourselves, which was crucial to me to make sure that we had a chance to know each other.”
They shared a never-before-seen photo of their 2017 trip on their new Instagram account, which showed them assisting with conversation efforts with elephants.
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The couple are set to return to Africa soon, this time on a royal tour. According to ITV, later this year, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will travel to Africa and visit the countries of Angola, Malawi, and South Africa, where they will continue to carry out the legacy of Princess Diana’s humanitarian work on the continent that she loved and often visited.
While visiting Malawi, the royals plan to work on expanding the reach of Prince Harry’s Sentebale charity, and they plan to travel to Angola, where Princess Diana visited and famously walked through an active landmine area. The photo of Harry and Prince William‘s mother wearing protective gear provided by the HALO Trust became an iconic image and example of her passion for the cause.
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