Forums.NitroExpress.com

Transfrontier Parks Could Have 250,000 Visitors

SouthScan (London)

July 31, 2005

Southern Africa's seven transfrontier national parks could have up to 250,000 visitors when they are fully developed, up from the 45,000 who visit them annually now, officials say.

The massive expansion is expected to be one of the benefits flowing from the 2010 Soccer World Cup, to be hosted in SA.

Officials from nine Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries met at Johannesburg International Airport this month to discussion regional consequences.

Peace Parks Foundation officialsa said that new camps, access roads and landing strips would be needed and that some O100 million would be needed to build and develop rural areas of surrounding countries.

While the Great Limpopo Park, crossing into Mozambique, South Africa and Mozambique, was the best known, others on the agenda included the Okavango-Zambezi Park, for which a memorandum of understanding was yet to be signed. It falls into Angola, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Another little-known park is the Limpopo-Shashi, falling into Zimbabwe, South Africa and Botswana.

Three different forms of land ownership as well as veterinary issues are among the challenges involved in its creation.

Other transfrontier parks were the Maloti-Drakensberg in South Africa and Lesotho; the Lebombo in South Africa, Mozambique and Swaziland; the Ai-Ais-Richtersveld in South Africa and Namibia and the Kgalakgadi in Botswana and South Africa.

The Mata Mata border post between South Africa and Namibia is likely soon to be opened to make the Kgalakgadi a three-country park.

In April the SA government is to inject a further R193-million into South Africa's transfrontier conservation projects, in addition to the R159-million already invested.

New funding, includes -

* More than R25-million for the proposed Limpopo-Shashe transfrontier park, which would cover a total area of 4 872 square kilometres, 53% of the territory being in South Africa, 28% in Botswana and 19% in Zimbabwe.

* R50-million for the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park, which will unite SA's Kruger National Park, the Gonarezhou National Park in Zimbabwe and the Limpopo National Park in Mozambique, creating one of the world's richest animal kingdoms.

* About R60-million for the Maloti-Drakensberg Transfrontier Conservation and Development Area, which encompasses areas in South Africa and Lesotho.

The Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park includes South Africa's Kruger National Park,, Zimbabwe's Gonarezhou National Park, , and the newly developed Limpopo National Park in Mozambique.

While the total surface area of the transfrontier park is approximately 35 000km2 the park is seen as the first phase in the eventual establishment of a transfrontier conservation area measuring 100 000 km2.

Much work remains to be done on the joint park, including the building of infrastructure and the accommodation of more than 20,000 villagers living inside the Mozambican section; under the park's charter, there will be no forced relocation of people.

Up to 120km of electric fencing separating the Kruger and Limpopo national parks will gradually be removed to allow animals to migrate freely across the borders. South Africa recently launched a three-year operation to release thousands of animals from Kruger to the Mozambican park. The first translocation was conducted in October last year, and 1 130 animals have been translocated to date.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200508021010.html

--------------------
________________________________________________________________

African News Headlines at a glance daily

Post Extras