Congress Mahlangu
A team of consultants will undertake a number of conservation and socio-economic assessments for the Greater Addo Elephant National Park to expand the park for its growing elephant population and to realise its conservation and development objectives.
The survey results are intended to attract World Bank development funding.
The project, divided into four components, will be undertaken by a consortium led by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research to look at the biological impacts, whereas the Coastal and Environment Services will focus on the sociological and environmental impacts.
Dr Mike Knight, project coordinator, says the assessment survey is the initial phase and is funded by the Global Environment Facility and scheduled to run over an 18-month period.
Knight says the survey would consolidate the biological and physical information for the greater Addo area and the adjacent marine zone and draw a conservation plan for the area.
The survey will also identify core conservation areas within the park, information regarded as critical to the expansion of the park.
The socio-environmental impact assessment team will assess the social, economic and institutional viability of the park by conducting site visits to landowners, businesses and relevant institutions in the area for information regarding the impact of the park in the area.
The process will entail public consultation processes, public meetings, poster and pamphlet distribution, newspaper advertisements and one-on-one meetings with affected parties.
Addo Park attracts more than 120?000 visitors a year. Tourists are restricted to the main elephant camp that covers about 13?500ha. With the elephant population increasing at an average rate of more than 6% annually, there isn’t sufficient roaming space for the herds in the park. South African National Parks is constantly looking for new land adjacent to its property.
Knight says the park needs an additional 250?000ha to support the free-ranging populations of the elephant, rhino, buffalo, leopard and to reintroduce lions to the park.
In addition to the Big Five group of animals in a malaria-free environment, the park plans to include a marine zone with species such as the southern right whale and great white shark to ultimately make the park a Big Seven tourist destination.
Furthermore, with emphasis on the conservation of biodiversity, a complete wildlife experience is possible across a series of landscapes unrivalled in beauty within a single conservation area.
Forests for the people
Barry Streek
Thousands of people in 163 villages in the former Transkei recently became indirect shareholders of 60?000ha of forests, worth R45-million.
The forests, stretching from Umtata to the Umzimkulu/Kokstad area, and the Weza sawmill were sold to Singisi Forests Products, in which two trusts will hold 10% of the shares and appoint one member of the company’s board of directors.
The community-empowerment deal was brokered by the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry and the Department of Public Enterprises, and involves the sale of South African Forestry Company forests outside the borders of the former homeland and government-owned forests in the former Transkei.
The land involved will not be sold the new company will pay R2,5-million in annual rent, which will be paid to successful land claimants in the area, or to structures representing the 163 communities.
Apart from negotiations with the villagers, the government also won support from four trade unions.
Lael Bethlehem, chief director of forestry in the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry, said the Eastern Cape Development Corporation had provided the finance for the villagers to acquire the shares in the new company.