SA parks get additional land
Zibonele Ntuli
2 August 2004
Environmental Affairs and Tourism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk has proclaimed more than 66 000 hectares of land to be incorporated into the South African National Parks system.
The proclamation, made on Friday, follows the minister's Budget Speech where he announced that over the next three years R123-million would be budgeted for land acquisition for the national parks.
He had said a further R160-million per year over the same period would be added by the local and international donor community.
"As a signatory to the Convention on Biological Diversity, South Africa is committed to the goal of ensuring that at least 10 percent of all land is protected, which will in turn help us to ensure the long-term survival of our natural resources," said Van Schalkwyk.
The minister said that three of the areas affected by the expansion fall within the Cape Floristic Kingdom recently declared as the country's sixth World Heritage Site.
"Of great significance is the fact that the Table Mountain National Park, Agulhas and the West Coast National Parks fall within the Cape Floristic Kingdom, which we are proud to manage on behalf of the nations of the world.
"This expansion boosts our capacity to manage the Floral Kingdom and further extends our mandate in the custodianship of this World Heritage Site," he said.
Areas proclaimed as protected areas are the Vhembe-Dongola National Park in Limpopo, Western Cape's Agulhas National Park, Karoo National Park, Namaqua National Park, Augrabies Waterfall National Park, West Coast National Park and Table Mountain National Park.
"The expansion of our protected areas accomplishes a number of important goals, one of which is to bring a more representative cross-section of eco-systems into the protection net. In Agulhas National Park, this brings new river catchments into the park which allows us to better protect the quality of our water supply," said
the minister.
"In the Table Mountain National Park we have added greater quantities of fynbos. The net result is that our ability to manage and protect biodiversity is greatly improved through the expansions," he said.
He added that the expansion was aimed at unlocking the potential for expanded ecotourism in those areas and government would create better facilities and greater attractions for tourists by creating more space in the parks.
Source: BuaNews
| 
