The making of a national park

In the following extract from his book, Marakele Project, Paul van Vlissengen describes in his own words what has been achieved at Marakele and why it is a model for the future of national parks in Africa.

This is a story about nature, animals and people. It is a story about personal commitment and collective dedication, about putting existing natural resources to best use and about public-private partnership. This is about an innovative approach developed in Marakele National Park in South Africa, which could become a model for saving the irreplaceable gems of sub-Saharan Africa: its national parks.

In the beginning

A few years ago, I had the privilege to be introduced to then-President Nelson Mandela. I asked him about his government’s policy on the protection and expansion of their wild places – their national parks. President Mandela said that there was little money for parks, as there were many more pressing needs, such as the provision of educational opportunities, housing, water, sewerage systems, hospitals, a better police force — ‘Our voters will not understand if we put a lot of money into zebras while they live without a roof over their heads.” Mandela opened my eyes.

The story had a second father: Mavuso Msimang, the invaluable and able CEO of South African National Parks. Realistic, seasoned by experience and well equipped to handle the crises and intrigues of post-apartheid national parks (he was trained in Moscow in urban warfare), he saw the need for a new approach to park management and he understood how this could involve the private sector.

Valli Moosa, government minister responsible for the environment, strongly supported this new concept of public-private partnership for national parks.

The Marakele model

Marakele National Park has one of the most accessible and breathtaking landscapes in South Africa. Only a few hours’ drive north of Johannesburg, it musters a diverse combination of fantastic mountains and gorges, bush and plains, rivers and ponds.

But when I found it in 1997, it was stagnating. There was no money, and no hope of achieving the expansion of lowland areas needed for the animals’ feeding range or of building and maintaining fences.

There were dedicated individuals to do the work, but no money to maintain and reinvigorate the park or to invest in a strategy of biodiversity. Access was difficult, game species and population levels were declining. Facilities such as tented camps were lacking and there were practically no visitors.

Simply providing money would not have been a sustainable solution. There had to be a broader strategy based on a model of public-private partnership, where both parties could focus on what they do best. The state would provide the land and legislative framework.

The private sector would provide funds after careful economic analysis and under strict budgetary discipline and within a clear accounting framework, as well as management know-how to allow for a culture of swift decision-making and to reintroduce the sense of purpose and strategy so necessary for success.

Based on a 30-year business contract, South African National Parks agreed to delegate management and development of the northern area of Marakele to a joint management team. Management of the rest of the park would benefit from an agreement of mutual support.

It certainly was a challenge, a joint venture between two cultures, between the state and the private sector. Though it was unusual and innovative, we proved that such a partnership could provide results that were superior to a purely public approach.

The scheme was set up and implemented with splendid support from people within the responsible government department, South African National Parks, who appreciated the importance of making Marakele National Park a successful model for nature conservation.

We brought together a dedicated group of South Africans to activate the project. In a period of two years, we purchased over a dozen farms; negotiated fence removal with neighbours; relocated tented camps; developed caravan, barbeque and day-visit facilities; built and operated new entrances; constructed over 150km of new game fence; removed 7 000km of barbed wire, 80km of high-voltage powerline, 100km of telephone line; cleared 5 000ha of bush; and built a small village for the local community, whose members now own land and houses in their own names.

Schools were adopted, their roofs were repaired, toilets rebuilt and uniforms, books and teaching aids were supplied, as were bicycles for those pupils living a long way away. Beds were provided for a hostel and a scholarship made available for the best pupil to continue to higher education.

Tourist activities will now be the financial pump to maintain and expand the park. New partners who subscribe to the principle of ecological management are welcome to participate.

Large areas are available for inclusion. Farmers who decide to bring in their land will retain ownership and will be granted the right to develop ecotourism and thus benefit from all the advantages of the unified Marakele habitat and the park’s services. However, they must agree to concede to the park the right of first refusal in the event that they want to sell their property outside their family.

Tourism and associated services will provide a range of new jobs and opportunities for the local population. National parks can only prosper if local people are benefiting from the management of the park. This means primarily employment as rangers and in the tourist camps.

A 50-bed camp facility for overseas visitors can provide more than 100 permanent jobs. Local art can be sold, organic gardens developed, small businesses will benefit from increased economic input in the area.

The need for a new approach

All African governments face a similar dilemma: in a desperate situation of overwhelming human needs and limited funds, wildlife slips inevitably from low to last on the priority list. In addition, the vast wildlife resources of sub-Saharan Africa have not been managed to help address precisely these pressing human needs, such as food and employment.

Marakele is not a one-off case. Throughout sub-Saharan Africa, national parks were established during colonial times and were often regarded as a ‘white man’s hobby”. Since then, a generation of well-trained park wardens has retired and been replaced by people – mostly politically appointed – with little motivation or managerial experience. The dull hand of bureaucracy has stifled new ideas and initiatives; sources of finance have dried up; and in many countries the culture of getting things done has declined into inertia and indifference.

Overall, this has produced mediocre or bad management, which in some instances has encouraged survival by corruption and deceit. This is all part of a larger picture that includes devastation wrought by civil war, hunger, crime and HIV/Aids.

Some national parks have only a paper existence as areas on a map surrounded by a green line. Many have had their game decimated, shot or starved during civil war. Many have been invaded by people simply trying to stay alive.

The model of private-public partnership works: the state contributes land and provides the legislative framework; the private sector supplies initial funds, management and sustainable commitment. Together, they can develop tourism activities to make the park self-sufficient in financial terms. Marakele aims to be just that from 2004 onwards.

The vision of Nelson Mandela, the support of Minister Valli Moosa and the commitment and courage of Mavuso Msimang in stepping into the unknown have created a success, an effective new strategy for national parks. It was a privilege and a pleasure to head the team that put this into action and to see its endeavours rewarded: it works!

With its spectacular scenery and great diversity of flora and fauna, Marakele now rivals the Kruger National Park. The neighbouring private game reserve joined forces and, since all the fences have been taken down, the greater Marakele area is now approximately 120 000h.

Going forward

Let us look beyond the borders of South Africa to other countries. There is every reason to develop the Marakele model of co-operation in Malawi, Mozambique, Uganda and Zambia. In fact, in all the countries of our planet where biodiversity and oases of nature are struggling to survive against the ever-increasing pressure of man.

In generations to come, population control must be the foremost human contribution to the survival of the planet’s ecosystems, as the quest for living space and agricultural land will continue to take its toll on nature, depleting precious resources. However, time is running out and we should develop models for the short and medium term to preserve the sub-Saharan wildlife and to manage it as a resource for sustainable development.

The position of national parks within the bureaucratic structure of government reduces the prospect of adequate financing and effective management. They are beset by external pressures – farming, tourism, building development and poaching, to which they have no adequate response. National parks cannot survive through land ownership and legislation alone: they must develop dynamic and cooperative management systems that equip them to survive in our times – and beyond.

The private-public partnership, so successful at Marakele, points a way forward. It also allows for extending parks through contract management with neighbours, and thus avoids increasingly heavy land acquisition costs. Under management contracts, private landowners can develop their own business while their land extends the ecologically protected area.

This approach consists of developing self-financing and sustainable management systems. This is particularly the case where protected areas form the centre of a wider landscape and socio-economic systems based on the use of natural resources.

Marakele was just the beginning. What started with an inspiring conversation with Nelson Mandela has become a systematic and strategic approach that addresses the pressing needs of the people living in or around national parks as well as of the animals and nature.

It requires a change from managing land to managing biodiversity over much larger areas. Ecological expertise is available. Private partners will supply the practical management.

The exciting Marakele model has enormous potential for bringing about significant change to the benefit of people, animals and nature in the wider area of sub-Saharan Africa. To develop and expand this, funds are needed from Europe, Japan and the United States. Funds to invest in surrounding infrastructure and also to pre-finance some of the groundwork in the parks to allow for their sustainable exploitation.

I am convinced that there is the political will in these countries to support a strategy that has proved to be viable, effective, accountable and transparent and which is managed in a modern way. It provides an alternative to existing development schemes, as it integrates the interests of man and nature in a sustainable manner, and it provides a remedy to the short- and medium-term threats to the world’s most precious ecosystems and wildlife sanctuaries.

There is work to be done.