7 February 2005

Skukuza - Kruger National Park is reaching out to communities living next to the world famous reserve.

The "Take Kruger to Kasie (township)" project received a boost on Friday when Johannesburg-based volunteer group Honorary Rangers handed over two buses donated by petroleum company Shell South Africa.

"Kasie" is township slang derived from the Afrikaans word "lokasie", which means location or township.

"The buses will be used to spread the conservation message and environmental education to communities living along the park's boundaries", said park spokesman Raymond Travers.

The project will use slide shows and videos to show people what the park has to offer.

"These buses will help take the park to the people", said Travers. "They will not only provide local communities with direct access to information on what the park has to offer, but also promote tourism."

He said the park's environmental education and cultural heritage programmes would also be promoted, as well as potential economic empowerment opportunities for communities.

The buses will visit community centres, shopping malls and other public areas.

Shell external affairs spokesman Linda Ntombela said the buses had been specially refurbished for the project. "Our hope is that they will be reliable and safe training vehicles for many years to come", he said.

Source: BuaNews

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	Kruger National Park's Helen Mmethi will be inviting local communities to get on the park's bus (Photo: South African National Parks)

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