THE EASTERN CAPE'S premier conservation project, the proposed Greater Addo Elephant National Park (GAENP) has received attention in a top international science journal. The proposed park will stretch 200km from the Karoo to Bird Island in Algoa Bay and feature the "big seven" lion, leopard, elephant, rhino, buffalo, the Southern Right whale and great white sharks. The article in the US magazine Science focuses on a R55-million endorsement of the Addo Park project by the Global Environmental Facility (GEF). The article notes that the endorsement has been made at a time when the GEF is cutting back severely on its budget. Co-initiator of the greater Addo project, Prof Graham Kerley of the University of Port Elizabeth, told the Dispatch newspaper that he was proud that it had withstood the scrutiny from GEF's scientific and financial auditors. "I think they were attracted to the project because it centres on a critical conservation opportunity and because they liked the way we presented it," he said. The publication of the Science report coincides with the release of the project's strategic environmental assessment (SEA). The next phase of the project envisages improving and expanding the conservation plan and research activities, parallel to continued expansion. The local South African National Parks (SANParks) office, headed up by Dr Mike Knight, has developed a project implementation plan. A GEF team is due to arrive in September for a further appraisal. It is envisaged that the total R400-million needed to fund the project will come from GEF, the SANParks, the national Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism and from private concessionaires and donors.