Strauss & co - WWF Art Auction

7 I t is common cause worldwide that South Africa is blessed, perhaps more than any other country on our planet, with an extraordinary biodiversity and natural beauty. Sublime beaches and long rocky coastlines delineate our land from a marine habitat still thankfully full of life and nutrients. Our landscape is similarly fecund. The rocks which provide the base upon which organic life is played out contain some of Earth’s richest deposits of minerals useful to our species. These biological and geological treasures, drained by rivers that are so easily damaged in a generally arid environment, require constant vigilance from us all if we are to preserve our national crown jewels in the face of a South African human population that has tripled in my lifetime. Since its inception in the 1950s, I have been aware of the critical conservation work undertaken throughout the globe by WWF. Citizens of wealthy developed countries have been educated by this unique organisation about the fragility of our living planet, and made aware of their heavy ecological footprint on its finite resources. South Africa has been so very fortunate to have a vibrant and, when needed at times, vociferous national arm of WWF operating here since the late 1960s. Many beautiful areas of our country have been kept pristine due to the labour and talents of the people at WWF-SA. I in fact simply could not imagine a South Africa without a well- fundedWWF-SA. All the conservation work undertaken, and the purchases of land for inclusion in South Africa’s conserved estate, are achieved utilising funds raised within South Africa. Due to this I was thrilled to be made aware and subsequently asked to be patron of this auction of major works by an array of our most eminent living artists. I am confident that this WWF fundraising auction will not only be a rare opportunity for collectors to acquire works of art that have been carefully assembled by Everard Read and auctioned by our world- renowned StephanWelz, but also in doing so buyers will contribute massively to the exciting projects that are currently being developed at WWF-SA. Letter fromWWF-SA Trustee Nicky Oppenheimer