Zimmermann Group – Sponsors become Friends and Family
June 01, 2015 by dyertrust
The 15th May 2015 marked the International Day of Families and Friends – celebrating the importance of your loved and cherished ones, close and far.
But it is not always just your blood kin that is considered family, or life long acquaintances that is considered as friends. Many a time those who whirlwind into your life – support and believe in you and your dreams also become friends and family – from a stranger walking into an establishment, to a friend in mere months.
Mr. Pierre Zimmermann is just such a man.
November 2014 he visited 
A custom designed, world-class, marine bird rehabilitation centre, the APSS will provide temporary rehabilitative care to diseased, displaced, injured, oiled and abandoned marine birds, with a special focus on the endangered African penguin. Marine bird rescue, rehabilitation and release form part of the management plan to conserve and maintain African penguins and other marine bird populations along the South African coastline.
Featuring a unique rehabilitation area with a specialised floor, laboratory and clinic, the APSS rehabilitation techniques will be honed to afford birds individual treatment with minimum stress. This maximises their rehabilitation and affords them the best chance of survival when released back into the wild. Working closely with our conservation partner CapeNature, and the Department of Environmental Affairs, the best possible rehabilitation practices will be identified and applied at this facility.
Through continued research, education and awareness programmes, the APSS, a project driven by the Dyer Island Conservation Trust (DICT) in conjunction with tourism partners Marine Dynamics and Dyer Island Cruises, aims to mitigate the human impact on marine bird colonies.
Minister of Tourism Derek Hanekom, who spoke at the event and officially opened the centre, said in his speech; Projects of this nature are about the common good, good for environment, good for the community and good for the country as a whole.
Although the facility was purpose built for rehabilitation of marine birds, it also caters for creating awareness around the perils our marine birds face out in the wild. An Auditorium equipped with a big screen TV, which is linked up to the Rehabilitation area – the Bird Hospital and the Laboratory/Clinic, will enable any guest who visits the facility to see what is being done behind the scenes. This will prevent added stress on the birds in rehabilitation by minimizing the amount of people allowed in the critical areas. The Auditorium also sports one way glass overlooking the final Conditioning pen – where visitors can watch our birds in final preparation for release without any disturbance or interference. Tourism drives our conservation efforts, and the biggest tool we have in conservation is by educating the public around the conservation of these species we work with intensively. A touch screen unit will c