11 July 2005

The 35 000 square kilometre Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park, a merger of some of the best, most established wildlife areas in southern Africa, will be officially opened next month by the heads of state of Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe.

The transfrontier park combines South Africa's Kruger National Park, Mozambique's Limpopo Park and Zimbabwe's Gonarezhou National Park to create one of the biggest conservation areas in the world.

The park is made up of 58% South African, 24% Mozambican and 18% Zimbabwean territory. Tourists will be able to drive freely across the international borders of the three countries within the boundaries of the park.

In addition to the usual game-viewing opportunities, visitors will have a broad range of new attractions, including bird-rich tropical wetlands, lake cruises, tiger-fishing and rugged 4x4 adventure drives.

A mix of cultural experiences will also be on offer, with traditional healers explaining their trade, story-telling, foods, dance, music and arts and crafts.

Additional private and community-owned reserves and conservancies will be merged into the park at a later stage to create a total conservation area of 100 000kmē.

Besides linking the Kruger with the Limpopo and Gonarezhou parks, the initiative will also include the Manjinji Pan Sanctuary and Malipati Safari Area in Zimbabwe, as well as the Sengwe communal land in Zimbabwe and the Makuleke region in South Africa.

Source: BuaNews

	Peace Parks: in pursuit of a new conservation vision (Graphic: Peace Parks Foundation)

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	Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park  South African National Parks  Peace Parks Foundation

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