THE JOHN RAE TRUST
The John Rae Trust is a registered Charity, no. 1179803.
Established in 2018, its governing document gives as its stated objective:
“The advancement of education for the public benefit in environmental and plant science with particular reference to the ecosystems of southern Africa … by providing funding support to the Buffelskloof Herbarium and Research Centre in its research work and enabling students of conservation and plant and environmental sciences to carry out academic research there.”
Prior to the establishment of the John Rae Trust, Buffelskloof Nature Reserve and its Herbarium had been funded by the Buffelskloof Nature Reserve Trust [BNRT], a private trust set up by the late John Rae in 1971. The BNRT’s primary objective is the preservation of the reserve itself: it can no longer cover the additional cost, currently £50,000 per annum, of the ever-increasing research and educational activities undertaken by and based at the Buffelskloof Herbarium.
These activities are widely recognised as of global importance. They receive no state funding. It was in these circumstances that it was deemed imperative to set up the John Rae Trust to ensure the continued survival of the herbarium as a source of support for scientists and of inspiration to African students, the conservators of the future.
Memoranda of Cooperation have been signed with the British and Dutch national herbaria, with the South African Institute of Biodiversity and the University of Pretoria.