KWAZULU-Natal Wildlife is to retrench about 600 employees to cut costs, Agriculture and Environmental Affairs MEC Narend Singh confirmed on Wednesday. Singh said 600 out of a total of 3_600 employers were to be retrenched “so more money can be directed to ground work”. He said the restructuring process began in the 1990s when the former Natal Parks Board and Department of Nature Conservation amalgamated. Since then the department had reduced its staff from 5_000 to 3_600. “We have now reached a stage where we need to offer people packages. We have also established that only 3_000 employees are needed,” Singh said. Park standards had been suffering over the past year, but if the province wanted to continue to exploit its natural heritage and resources, these parks had to be maintained, he said.