THE Port Elizabeth Regional Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Percci) has thrown its weight behind the Greater Addo Elephant Park development in the Eastern Cape, pledging to assist in fast tracking the programme and gaining support for it through its membership base. The greater Addo Elephant park outside Port Elizabeth will be the most biologically diverse wildlife reserve in Africa, stretching from the island bird sanctuary of St Croix island in Algoa Bay through coastal forests and the Zuurberg mountains to the semi-desert Karoo. In addition to allowing tourists the opportunity to view Africa’s “big five” land mammals in their natural habitat, visitors to the marine reserve will be able to view the Southern Right whale and the great white shark, both of which occur in the Bay. Percci chief executive officer, Alfred da Costa told a business meeting: "We, as organised business are convinced that tourism will prove to be one of the largest driving forces within our economy over the next few years and we are committed to assisting in the development of the Greater Addo Elephant Park." He added that this reasoning had led to the establishment of a Percci tourism task team to provide support to organisations dealing with tourism. Dr Michael Knight of South African National Parks (SANP) said that occupancy within the existing Addo park was currently between 70 per cent and 90 per cent at most times of the year, but that the challenge lay in keeping those tourists in the area for longer periods of time. According to Knight, organised business can play a vital role through support for the project and by communicating the importance of the project to others in the region. He said: "The project also needs to be more widely advertised and we need grass roots buy-in. Even if people are not going to benefit immediately, they may well benefit in the future. There are a number of people in the Addo region who are not yet feeling the benefits, but can see that others are, which is important as they know that this project will lead to important economic benefits." He added that it is important that the Greater Addo Elephant Park sells a uniquely Eastern Cape flavour and that the park is not a repetition of others in Africa. The multi-million rand expansion project, will position the Greater Addo Elephant Park as the third-largest conservation area in South Africa. Researchers predict that the expanded park will qualify as a World Heritage Site in terms of its diversity of plant and animal species, geology and landscape features as well as cultural history.