The Desert Vipers, the first sport signatory of the Global Biodiversity Alliance (GBA), are delighted to launch their latest Sustainability Match kit at the GBA Conference in Guyana.
Attended by a cross-section of key decision makers in the sustainability space, including heads of state, government ministers, representatives of development banks, scientists and indigenous leaders, the GBA conference offered the perfect platform for the Desert Vipers to showcase another key sustainability awareness initiative.
West Indies and Desert Vipers batting star Shimron Hetmyer unveiled the kit on behalf of the team. He also presented the President of Guyana, H.E. Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali, with a signed jersey and bat as a token of appreciation for recognising the Desert Vipers as the 133rd signatory and first sports organisation to join the Global Biodiversity Alliance.
The kit, made from one hundred percent recycled materials, will be worn by the players during the Season 5 Sustainability Match scheduled for December 6, when the Desert Vipers take on the Dubai Capitals. The kit features the updated Global Biodiversity Stripes, created by Professor Miles Richardson of the University of Derby from Living Planet Index data maintained by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), and shows the decline in global biodiversity since 1970.
Desert Vipers CEO Phil Oliver underlined the team’s commitment to reduce its carbon footprint while bringing awareness about the various ways in which sporting teams can operate in a sustainable way: “I’m delighted that the Desert Vipers will once again be putting nature front and centre at our Sustainability Match during Season 5 of DP World ILT20, by wearing the updated Global Biodiversity Stripes, on our kit. Through the message that _Without Nature, There Is No Sport_, we hope to inspire the millions of fans watching our match and following on social media to support the team by taking action in their own way to protect and restore nature.”
Professor Miles Richardson, the creator for the Global Biodiversity Stripes added he was pleased the Desert Vipers had chosen to feature the updated stripes on this year’s match kit for their Sustainability Match.
“The Desert Vipers have built a genuinely meaningful partnership around the Biodiversity Stripes. By wearing the updated Biodiversity Stripes, they’re helping bring one of the world’s most important environmental stories to new audiences and showing how sport can inspire action for nature. The latest Biodiversity Stripes incorporate the newest global data and provide an updated snapshot of the state of nature. It’s wonderful to see the Desert Vipers continue this journey, helping transform global biodiversity data into a message that people can see, wear and talk about.”
Season 4 was the first time the Sustainability Match kit featured these stripes, but this year the stripes have been updated using the latest data from the WWF and the ZSL in their Living Planet Report. One of the key messages from the report is that where efforts are made to protect and restore nature, nature can recover. The Desert Vipers hope to highlight this message to the millions of fans watching this season’s Sustainability Match, with the stripes rising from grey to green on the back of the jersey, providing a message of hope. Desert Vipers will continue with the theme, ‘Without Nature, There Is No Sport’.
Following the release of the Sustainability Match kit on October 30, two days later on November 1, the Desert Vipers Styrex Boundary BioBlitz began, supported by Bluewater Group and delivered by Nature Wave. Across 20-days, events in Guyana, India, and the United Arab Emirates are connecting fans with nature beyond the cricket boundary, exploring wildlife in the boundary between the ocean and land.
The campaign will bring together cricket fans to connect with nature, record species within their own surroundings, while building awareness about biodiversity and the importance of nature protection and restoration.
So far our BioBlitz campaigns have involved 333 participants, recording 1,344 species, through 3,875 observations, delivering a social value of 0.62 million dirhams. Fans can follow progress of the Desert Vipers Styrex Boundary BioBlitz here: https://www.thedesertvipers.com/sustainability/bioblitz
Desert Vipers – Playing with purpose for People and Planet. For more details, visit the Desert Vipers website: https://www.thedesertvipers.com/sustainability/
