South Africa is set to get its first "climate change" national park designed to give species a better chance of survival in a warmer, drier future.
The Namaqua National Park in the Northern Cape came a step closer to realising that aim on Thursday when it acquired another 36 000ha of land on the West Coast.
Ultimately SANParks hopes to extend the park to include mountainous land in the Kamiesberg, which would complete the "climate change" park.
Paul Daphne, SANParks' managing executive of park operations, said on Monday having a park stretching from sea level to an elevation of about 1 700m would allow plant and animal species to migrate to different altitudes in response to a drier and warmer climate.
Continues Below ↓
"In that regard it will be our state-of-the-art park to accommodate the inevitability of climate change. There may be other national parks where this climate change accommodation could take place, but this is the first one consciously designed with that in mind," Daphne said.
The new 36 000ha addition, between the Groen and Spoeg rivers, is owned by De Beers Consolidated Mines and was given to SANParks by the mining company on a 99-year lease, with the option of a further 99-year lease when that expired.
SANParks intends to promulgate the new park boundaries soon.
The land is now farmland, used mainly for sheep, but was mined for diamonds in some areas in the past.
Asked what would happen to the park if it become economical to mine the land again, Daphne said it was unlikely that this would occur.
"I would think they (De Beers) have done their homework quite well. Obviously the land had some diamond mining, but clearly it is not economical now.
"Once it is proclaimed a national park, then the possibility of a mine would not be there anymore. In our Act mining is precluded. The bottom line is that the mining potential of the land is far less now," he said.
SANParks will spend R8,5-million over three years to employ 55 people to rehabilitate old roads, 4x4 tracks and old mining sites, and to develop hiking trails.
These will be day-hikes, but may be expanded to become overnight trails if SANParks can secure funding to develop them.
The 36 000ha makes the Namaqua National Park the fifth largest in South Africa after Kruger, Kgalagadi, Addo and the Richtersveld.
The park contains key components of the Succulent Karoo biome, an internationally recognised biodiversity "hotspot".
"The Succulent Karoo biome has been identified as a priority biome by the department of environment affairs and tourism, largely because of the high number of endemic species. It is one of the biomes with the least percentage under conservation," Daphne said.
John Kruger, head of ecology for De Beers, said in a statement that conservation of the area would enhance the potential for "ecologically-friendly tourism, and therefore create new, sustainable employment opportunities".
De Beers has donated breeding populations of springbok and gemsbok to establish founder populations in the new park.
South Africa is home to more species of succulent, apart from cacti, than any other region of similar size in the world, according to author John Manning.
They range from miniature stoneplants in Namaqualand to giant Eastern Cape candelabra trees.
melanie.gosling@inl.co.za
- This article was originally published on page 6 of Cape Times on November 11, 2008
|
StumbleUpon
Reddit
Digg
Delicious
Newsvine
Facebook
muti
Twitter
