Newsroom
Search:
News Article - Tourism
Karoo gets a national park
Posted on: Thursday, 08 September 2005. Article source: The Herald
The Karoo Nature Reserve, including the Valley of Desolation near Graaff-Reinet, has been declared a national park.
Speaking from the Valley of Desolation yesterday, Environmental Affairs Minister Marthinus Van Schalkwyk said the park would be South Africa’s 22nd national park.
The 14 500-hectare reserve has been donated to the SA National Parks Board by the World Wide Fund for Nature in South Africa.
Comprising seven parcels of land around Graaff-Reinet, the donated land is estimated to be worth more than R23-million.
SANParks chairman Cheryl Carolus said her organisation would be engaging the community so that the benefits of the new park could be shared by all.
“This gives the park access to the international marketing network of SANParks for the first time, as well as the wildcard (a discount card which rewards frequent visitors with cheaper access), and I have no doubt that we will see a huge increase in visitors coming here,” she said.
Van Schalkwyk said that during 2004 the Camdeboo area had sold 213 000 bed-nights of accommodation, generating R99-million in tourism revenue in the region and creating just over 600 jobs directly related to the tourism industry.
He said the department would invest R6-million over the next three years from the poverty relief programme to develop the infrastructure the park required through labour- intensive initiatives.
The Peace Parks Foundation and the SA National Parks Trust pledged R1-million each over the next two years for the management of the new park.
“What we plan to do over the next five years . . . is to push up job creation to over 800 directly related to the tourism industry in this area. That’s apart from all the indirect jobs that we will create,” Van Schalkwyk said.
With a projected growth of five per cent a year, he said, it was estimated that the annual tourism revenue for the region would increase to more than R154-million by 2009.
“Our vision for the future is ultimately to link our new national park with the Mountain Zebra Park, creating a unique African Karoo wildlife experience and protecting a huge diversity of plant and animal species,” he said.
As part of that vision, the existing airstrip, which can already accommodate some of the regional airlines, will play a vital role in providing access to the new park.
Van Schalkwyk said the envisioned mega-conservation area, some 120km in length and including up to 520 000ha of land, would be made up of different forms of conservation management.
“The land lends itself specifically to hunting, eco-tourism initiatives and private game lodges, and we will link all of this up. What we are creating here is unique,” he said.
“What we are doing here today will not take away anything from anybody,” he said.
A public consultation process will be initiated to determine the new name for the park.
Speaking from the Valley of Desolation yesterday, Environmental Affairs Minister Marthinus Van Schalkwyk said the park would be South Africa’s 22nd national park.
The 14 500-hectare reserve has been donated to the SA National Parks Board by the World Wide Fund for Nature in South Africa.
Comprising seven parcels of land around Graaff-Reinet, the donated land is estimated to be worth more than R23-million.
SANParks chairman Cheryl Carolus said her organisation would be engaging the community so that the benefits of the new park could be shared by all.
“This gives the park access to the international marketing network of SANParks for the first time, as well as the wildcard (a discount card which rewards frequent visitors with cheaper access), and I have no doubt that we will see a huge increase in visitors coming here,” she said.
Van Schalkwyk said that during 2004 the Camdeboo area had sold 213 000 bed-nights of accommodation, generating R99-million in tourism revenue in the region and creating just over 600 jobs directly related to the tourism industry.
He said the department would invest R6-million over the next three years from the poverty relief programme to develop the infrastructure the park required through labour- intensive initiatives.
The Peace Parks Foundation and the SA National Parks Trust pledged R1-million each over the next two years for the management of the new park.
“What we plan to do over the next five years . . . is to push up job creation to over 800 directly related to the tourism industry in this area. That’s apart from all the indirect jobs that we will create,” Van Schalkwyk said.
With a projected growth of five per cent a year, he said, it was estimated that the annual tourism revenue for the region would increase to more than R154-million by 2009.
“Our vision for the future is ultimately to link our new national park with the Mountain Zebra Park, creating a unique African Karoo wildlife experience and protecting a huge diversity of plant and animal species,” he said.
As part of that vision, the existing airstrip, which can already accommodate some of the regional airlines, will play a vital role in providing access to the new park.
Van Schalkwyk said the envisioned mega-conservation area, some 120km in length and including up to 520 000ha of land, would be made up of different forms of conservation management.
“The land lends itself specifically to hunting, eco-tourism initiatives and private game lodges, and we will link all of this up. What we are creating here is unique,” he said.
“What we are doing here today will not take away anything from anybody,” he said.
A public consultation process will be initiated to determine the new name for the park.
Article Tags: No tags defined
Podcast
ECDC Xhosa Radio Ad
