This event took place at #WTM14, ExCeL London on Wednesday 5 November.

What can the tourism industry do for the conservation of Elephants and Rhino? Conserving elephants and rhino in the wild is a struggle. No one who heard Charlie Mayhew, founder and chief executive of Tusk, speak at WTM in 2012 will forget the power of his speech or the images of the cruelty of poaching. We heard how poaching has reached catastrophic proportions sweeping through the continent, decimating wildlife and destroying national and local economies, including the tourism industry. Over the last two years the situation has worsened, with reports of 1,004 South African rhinos killed in 2013; and by August this year 695 rhinos had been poached – 418 of them in the Kruger National Park. On the black market rhino horn sells for £39,000 a kilo – more than platinum or gold. We have brought together. We have invited Charlie Mayhew back to discuss how to improve and progress anti-poaching action in Africa with Colin Bell. Colin Bell co-founded Wilderness Safaris in 1983, sold his shares in 2005 and co-founded Great Plains Conservation in 2006. Now completely independent, Colin is campaigning for a Green Safari model. He believes passionately that allowing the trade in rhino is no way to stop rhino poaching. The two of them will be interviewed by our sponsor BBC World News Hardtalk’s Stephen Sackur on Wednesday morning about what the tourism industry could do that would make a difference. It promises to be a lively and hard hitting interview.