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I don’t know how many of you know Mapungubwe National Park. It is a beautiful, unspoiled part of the Transfrontier park with Botswana. It is very important for us to stand together to protect this magnificent piece of our natural heritage. Why is this so critical? Because they want to start mining in its vicinity!!!

We NEED to preserve this area and its rich diversity of fauna & flora and also protect the Limpopo river basin.

If you have time PLEASE go and sign the petition & forward it to people you know:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/mapungubwe-threatened-by-adjacent-coal-mine

For further reading if you are interested:

http://www.miningweekly.com/print-version/moving-on-up-2009-03-13

See this shocking part – “Mining at an initial rate of one-million tons a year to 1,5 million tons of coking coal a year will start in the third quarter of this year and will ramp up to 5 million tons a year."

http://www.sanparks.org/parks/mapungubwe/news/2009/media_release_mapungubwe.pdf

http://www.miningmx.com/news/energy/596827.htm

According to an interview on Radio 702, Mapungubwe stands a very good chance of losing it's World heritage status should the mining operations go ahead. Part of the motivation for this status was made on spiritual grounds and the mining operations would render those grounds null and void. This would put South Africa in great disrepute as far as the running of other World heritage sites are also concerned.

A spokesman for the Peace Parks Project was also interviewed and according to him this would be a huge setback and the possibilities are there that this project would not be able to go ahead at all.

Thank you for your time.

Labels: mapungubwe, mining, threat, transfrontier park

HARARE- Multilateral agencies and conservation groups are refusing to fund the Zimbabwean component of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park, one of Africa's most ambitious conversation project, because of the lawlessness of President Robert Mugabe's regime.

Industry sources said the World Bank, the European Union and other conversation groups have refused funding "until things change politically in Zimbabwe."

Without foreign currency reserves of its own, the Zimbabwean government has not been able to spend much money on new infrastructure urgently needed to allow tourists to visit the Zimbabwean sector of the park.

The government was eager to boost tourist inflows during the 2010 World Cup showcase by promoting the Zimbabwe component of the park.

The park is to straddle three international borders, uniting game areas in South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe into one seamless reserve through which tourists would move without passport requirements. At 13,500 square miles, the park is billed as the second biggest transfrontier park in Africa and potentially one of the continent's richest wildlife areas. But while work is proceeding apace on uniting the South African component, the Kruger Park, and the Mozambican element, an old hunting concession called Coutada 16, Zimbabwe has been left behind.
"The problem is the funding, because Zimbabwe has no money of its own and the foreign funders refuse to give any backing because of what is going on there," said Prof Willem van Riet, one of the park's main backers.

Under the Mugabe regime there has been a surge in wildlife poaching and the country's Gonarezhou national park, which was to have been its contribution to the new game reserve, has been partly invaded by illegal squatters.

Industry officials say Zimbabwe's de facto expulsion from the project represents an embarrassment for Thabo Mbeki, the South African president, who has sought to present the park as a good example of co-operation between African nations.

The Zimbabwean was told that road network on the South African side is very extensive in the Kruger Park but millions of pounds will be needed to create similar infrastructure in Mozambique. The German government has provided around £9 million for the project as long as it is spent in South Africa and Mozambique and not Zimbabwe.

Two shipments of animals from the Kruger Park have already been relocated to the Mozambican sector, which has very few animals because of years of civil war, hunting and poaching. Ten out of 29 elephants moved to Mozambique did not like their new surroundings, however, and trekked for more than 100 miles back to the South African sector, according to Van Riet.

Zimbabwe Council for Tourism CEO Paul Matamisa said there was a need for a separate budget from line ministries to cater for the transfrontier park if Zimbabwe is to get any spin-offs from the World Cup set to be hosted by South Africa in 2010.
"Zimbabwe is basically being left behind because of what is going on there at the political level," a senior conservation source said. "It is a great pity but until things change politically Zimbabwe will not be involved in the project."

Labels: gonarezhou, great limpopo park, greater limpopo park, transfrontier park, zimbabwe

HARARE- About 700 families of the Chitsa clan, who have been living in the Gonarezhou National Park since 2000, will be relocated to alternative land at the end of the cropping season, the Parks and Wildlife Management Authority has said.

The Authority has been pushing for this measure to enable the integration of the Park into the Kruger in South Africa and Limpopo Parks in Mozambique to form the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park.



The Chitsa people, at the instigation of their leaders, have been resisting relocation attempts by the authority arguing that the area was their ancestral home.

They claim that they were hoodwinked into leaving the park by the colonial regime under the pretext that they wanted to clear the area of tsetse fly before people could return.

They further claim that after the clearing of the tsetse fly, the colonial regime made their land part of the Gonarezhou Park and they were never allowed to return.

Parks spokesperson, Retired Major Edward Mbewe, said that the community, after a series of consultations and meetings, had agreed to be relocated.

"We have covered quite a lot of ground and the political will is on our side.

"We held several meetings with the chiefs, the area’s Member of Parliament, headman Chitsa, provincial and district administrators and everyone agreed that they should be relocated to allow the smooth implementation of the Transfrontier Park. They will be moving," said Rtd Maj Mbewe.

He said the authority had not started the relocation process due to the current cropping season and as soon as the season is over, the relocation process would start.

"As an authority, we can not do things which are inhuman and as soon as they harvest their crops, we will start the relocation process.

"Currently, we are also working on a comprehensive programme on how the relocation would be implemented," Rtd Maj Mbewe added.

He said chiefs and other traditional leaders who attended the consultative meetings, had concurred with the Chitsa community on the historical importance of the park.

Rtd Maj Mbewe said while the settlement of the families in the park was against the Parks and Wildlife Act, the authority would not disrupt the community’s farming activities through a hurried relocation.

"In the meantime, we are enforcing some of the provisions of the Act as we work out on the comprehensive relocation programme.

"We will be limiting the movement of their livestock in the park. We are also making sure that dogs are not allowed in the area."

Labels: gonarezhou, great limpopo park, land reform, transfrontier park

JOHANNESBURG- Five southern African countries have agreed, in principle, to establish a third Transfrontier Park, a development that will boost regional tourism and conservation efforts and facilitate cross-border travel.

This comes after July's agreement to establish the Limpopo-Shashe Transfrontier Conservation Area between South Africa, Zimbabwe and Botswana.

Tourism and environmental ministers from Zimbabwe, Angola, Namibia, Botswana and Zambia converged on the resort town of Victoria Falls on Thursday to sign a Memorandum of Understanding to connect a number of established protected areas, mainly along the Zambezi River.

Up to 36 national parks and game reserves in the five countries could become part of the new Transfrontier Park.

These include areas such as the Okavango Delta in Botswana, the Caprivi Strip in Namibia and the adjoining area in Angola, the Kafue Wetlands in Zambia and the Victoria Falls in both Zimbabwe and Zambia.

Zimbabwe's Tourism and Environment Minister Francis Nhema said the project could cover an estimated 30,000 square kilometres of savannah, woodland, river and wetland ecosystems in the countries concerned.

Under the agreement visa requirements will be scrapped by September 2008 for international and domestic tourists wishing to visit the Transfrontier Park in all countries involved.

The first Transfrontier project, the Greater Limpopo Transfrontier Park, was established in 2004 by South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, and incorporates the Kruger National Park, Zimbabwe's Gonarezhou Park and the Limpopo National Park in Mozambique.

At 35,000 square kilometres, the Limpopo Transfrontier Park will remain the largest and is already partly operational between South Africa and Mozambique. The fence on the Zimbabwean side is yet to be fully removed.

Zimbabwe has faced accusations of destroying its wildlife heritage due to rampant poaching by established game hunters with connections to the ruling party and by ruling party militants who invaded some national parks at the height of land seizures between 2000 and 2003. However, Zimbabwe still remains home to sizeable numbers of wildlife with abundant elephant and other species.

Nhema said the new Transfrontier project would make it much easier to manage regional ecology and to achieve regional integration in such areas as law enforcement and wildlife crime prevention and fire management.

Labels: great limpopo park, greater limpopo park, national park, transfrontier park

GOVERNMENT has set aside Z$10.4 billion (around US$40M) for the completion of various tourism infrastructure projects in the Greater Limpopo Transfrontier Park for the 2007 fiscal year, an amount players in the sector say falls short of their expectations.

The Park, which is one of the largest wildlife sanctuaries on the continent, is expected to boost tourist arrivals in the country and the region.

Analysts say the money, although welcome, still falls short of the project's requirements given the magnitude of work that needs completing.

"The country needs to move into the Gonarezhou Park with speed so that we do not lose out in the race to grab our tourist share from the project. Given that the target is 2010 (when adjacent South Africa expects an influx of tourists as it hosts the Football World Cup) we had thought the Government would advance a huge chunk to the project so as expedite infrastructure development in the area," said one analyst.

Zimbabwe Council of Tourism president Mr Paul Matamisa echoed the same sentiments saying the industry had bargained for more from the fiscus but what they had been offered was far below what was needed to complete different projects.

"The amount though welcome falls short of what we had bargained for and this is likely to severely cripple our plans. In fact, we had requested the Ministry of Finance for the expeditious creation of the Tourism Development Fund that was mooted earlier this year.

"Unfortunately, there is nothing tangible at the moment and what we got are statements of intend but this does not augur well for the sector. Other countries in the project are actually leaving us behind as we for the Government to unlock the funds," he said.

He said the industry had a lot of potential to jumpstart the economy and the country needed to be serious about investing in the sector.

"As the tourism industry we will continue to knock and cry for recognition as time is fast running out," Mr Matamisa.

Zimbabwe Tourism Authority chief executive Mr Karikoga Kaseke said the money was a clear indication that the country was taking the tourism sector seriously although they could have bargained for more.

"The tourism sector which contributes immensely to the country's foreign currency earnings needs to be prioritised. Enough funds should be set aside to promote the development of the sector," he said.

The money set aside is part of Government initiatives aimed at helping the tourism industry to rehabilitate tourism facilities as well as ensuring sustainable energy supplies in the potential foreign currency-spinning sector.

Presenting the 2007 national budget the Minister of Finance Dr Murerwa said the Z$10.4 billion was meant to develop tourism infrastructure in the Gonarezhou Park.

Last year the Government allotted Z$2 billion (revalued) for the improvement of infrastructure and electrification of some projects in the Gonarezhou Park which forms part of the GLTP.

At the same time the Zimbabwe National Army started the de-mining of the Sengwe Corridor (which connects Gonarezhou to Kruger), while plans are underway to upgrade Buffalo Range Airport in Chiredzi to meet international standards.

Labels: great limpopo park, greater limpopo park, national park, transfrontier park, zimbabwe

KRUGER NATIONAL PARK- The presidents of South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe officially opened a new border crossing Wednesday in a small but significant step toward creating the "world's greatest animal kingdom"- a huge transnational park spanning the three countries.

Presidents Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, Armando Guebuza of Mozambique and Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe gathered at the Giriyondo border post linking South Africa and Mozambique for the formal opening. The road was opened last December to limited traffic.



"Nature has triumphed and shown us that we can transcend national boundaries and that we can create "benefits beyond boundaries," Mbeki said in a speech at the opening ceremony. "Today our wild animals- the elephants, rhino, antelope and many others are once again beginning to roam freely."

He said that the Giriyondo Access Facility marked the "beginning of a new era when we will bring down the colonial fences, which divided our nations over several centuries."

It will take years to turn the dreams of the Greater Limpopo Transfrontier Park into reality, with free movement of animals- and people- throughout the 14,000 square miles (36,000 square kilometers) of scrubby, sunbaked bush.

It is hoped that the cooperation between the three countries will improve conservation measures- although there have also been fears the "borderless" park could also make it easier for poachers to operate.

Rob Little, chief conservation officer at the World Wildlife Fund's South African branch, said in an interview Wednesday that benefits would outweigh possible increase in poaching.

"The transfrontier park is a wonderful idea for conservation in general and opening up movement patterns, and also on international commitments to conservation in those regions," he said. "There are management implications and those need to be dealt with, as with any creation of a new conservation area. Some are going to work better than others. We have to remain optimistic as it's a wonderful opportunity."

South Africa's flagship, the Kruger, is well managed. But Mozambique's wildlife is only just beginning to recover from the country's long Civil War and authorities face the challenge of relocating 20,000 villagers living inside the Mozambican section, or at least allaying their fears about the risk of wild animals so that they agree to stay put.

Zimbabwe's economic and political upheavals, which have led to an upsurge in poaching and overstretched the country's conservation programs, are likely to delay plans to incorporate its Gonarezhou National Park in the project.

In Gonarezhou and in nature conservancies nearby, fences has been vandalized or stolen. Minefields left over from Zimbabwe's war of independence also remain a problem. Mugabe said in a speech Tuesday that the army would be called in to clear minefields in Gonarezhou, which means "the home of the elephant."

Much of the funding for the park, which will be about the size of Israel, has come from the World Bank and German government.

Although the area is famed for the "Big Five"- the lion, leopard, elephant, rhinoceros and buffalo- the Kruger Park also hosts 147 species of mammals, 505 species of birds, 116 species of reptiles, 34 species of frogs and at least 2,000 species of plants.

It is hoped that the nature reserves in Mozambique and Zimbabwe, which are much wilder than the Kruger, may host additional species. Experts say the increasing range opportunities provided by a bigger park would help conservation of threatened animals like the endangered wild dog. It would also ease pressure on the Kruger posed by the booming elephant population, which has revived a debate on whether the mighty beast should be culled.

Park proponents hope it will serve as a model for 21 other parks planned across Africa. A transfrontier park linking the Kalahari across the borders of South Africa and Botswana already exists.

Mbeki noted that it will fit into larger tourism development plans.

"I have no doubt that the easy access facilities and open spaces within the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park, which has been branded as the world's largest animal kingdom, will be a major attraction before, during and after the 2010 FIFA World Cup," Mbeki said.

"We must surely redouble our efforts to ensure that this unique and rich tapestry of life on our planet is turned into a jewel of the tourism market."

Labels: giriyondo, great limpopo park, greater limpopo park, transfrontier park

Impoverished villagers living next to the Kruger National Park in rural Mozambique have pledged 53,000ha of their land for conservation, providing a shot in the arm for South Africa’s ambitious cross-border “Peace Park” initiative.

The bequest will become part of the Greater Limpopo Transfrontier Park (GLTP), from which the 2,000 villagers hope to make money out of tourism, hunting and game meat production. They pooled their communal land to form the Cubo Community Nature Reserve, said Simon Munthali, regional head of the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF), an international NGO working with communities on the Mozambican side of the peace park.

“It’s the first community reserve in Mozambique joining the Greater Limpopo Transfrontier Park,” he said. “Depending on its success, we want to replicate it.”

There are no human settlements in the Cubo reserve, which is not ideal for commercial livestock or crop production because of sandy soils and low rainfall. The community members live on adjacent land on the southern bank of the Massingir dam, where fishing is their main livelihood.

The Cubo community exercises usufruct on the reserve land, which is being denuded by charcoal-makers from outside the area and over-grazing by livestock. The AWF secured funds from the USAids Global Development Alliance to fence the reserve. Once it has been secured, the community plans to negotiate via the Mozambican government for the opening of the GLTP fence to allow free movement of wildlife across the border between the two countries.

“The project demonstrates that local communities can be allies in fostering nature conservation,” said Munthali. “This is particularly relevant for these communities located adjacent to the GLTP, which face possible eviction by the state to create space for wildlife.”

The GLTP joins the Limpopo National Park in Mozambique, which covers one million hectares, to the Kruger. Eventually, if things go according to plan, the GLTP will become one of the world’s biggest wilderness areas, covering more than 3.3 million hectares.

Five years ago, the future of the transfrontier project hung in the balance because it appeared that more than 30,000 villagers living on the Mozambican side of the peace park did not want to move. But, in recent months, at least 6,000 villagers have indicated they are willing to relocate to areas where they will be provided with better access to infrastructure and social services.

The German Development Bank offered to help source funding for the move, on condition that resettlement is voluntary. The move is expected to start at the end of this year or early next year.

Villagers who do not want to move out of the park are welcome to stay on in fenced-off enclaves. But, said project manager Arrie van Wyk, many villagers only moved into the area after Mozambique’s civil war ended, and they are not used to living with wild animals.

“They want to resettle,” he said. “They accept that the government wants to develop the park and realise they will benefit in some way.”

In an area where the illiteracy rate is more than 70% and the average monthly household income less than R200 a month, tourism and rehabilitation work on the Massingir dam are the major sources of employment.

Three tourism destinations have been opened in recent months on the Mozambican side and a unique “bush to beach” experience is being marketed by operators. Within three weeks of the opening of the Giri-yondo access gate between the two countries last December, 1,057 cars had passed through, generating R153,000 for the Peace Park.

“Although this is not a large amount, it illustrates a turnaround point in the development of the Limpopo National Park. For the first time, tourism is beginning to contribute to the ultimate sustainability of the park,” said Willem van Riet, CEO of South Africa’s Peace Parks Foundation, which initiated the cross-border initiative.

Van Riet said at least half the fence in the Kruger separating South Africa and Mozambique had come down last year. With the dropping of the fence, wild animals- including about 350 elephants- are reclaiming ancient migration routes across the border.

Members of the Cubo community envisage generating jobs through the construction and maintenance of the fence around their reserve, management of the reserve, ecotourism business operations and the creation of related small, medium and micro-enterprises.

At present, they share one primary school, one small health clinic, one broken water pump and one bad road linking their village to the district headquarters.

Munthali added that, in creating a reserve, the community had a capital asset to leverage other financial support, and were protecting their communal land against unscrupulous private investors.

Although it was still too early to say how the Cubo community reserve would fit in with the GLTP, Van Wyk said “it is an important initiative that is contributing to the bigger vision of the conservation area”.

Labels: great limpopo park, greater limpopo park, mozambique, restitution, transfrontier park

PRETORIA- A pact for a new transfrontier game park straddling the borders between Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe was signed on Thursday.

The environment ministers of the three countries endorsed the agreement in Botswana on the dry bed of the Shashe River.

Once proclaimed, the Limpopo-Shashe Transfrontier Conservation Area (TFCA) will cover 4,872 square kilometres, almost a quarter the size of the Kruger National Park.

Centred on the confluence of the Limpopo and Shashe rivers, where the borders of the three states meet, the area is well known for its rich cultural heritage and prolific wildlife.

It includes South Africa's renowned Mapungubwe archaeological site, where excavations in the 1930s uncovered a royal graveyard, including numerous golden artefacts.

Chief among these is a one-horned golden rhinoceros, made of carved wood covered with gold foil. The sculpture was produced by a powerful Iron Age civilisation that established itself on and around the flat-topped sandstone hill about a thousand years ago.

The African people who lived there, from about 1000AD to 1300AD, exchanged ivory and gold with East African traders for glass beads from places as far away as India and Egypt.

Thousands of such beads have been found in the ruins and graves at Mapungubwe, which was declared a World Heritage Site in 2003.

The transfrontier area also contains a large number of elephants, as well as viable populations of lion, leopard and cheetah.

Thursday's signing ceremony included South Africa's Minister of Environment Marthinus van Schalkwyk and his Botswana and Zimbabwean counterparts Kitso Mokaila and Francis Nhema.

Van Schalkwyk said the Limpopo-Shashe TFCA was set to become a "big five" park.

"We will bring in large numbers of the big five [elephants, rhino, lions, buffalo and leopard]. We will play our role in stocking the area with what is needed," he said.

According to a fact sheet handed to journalists at the ceremony, there are close to 2,000 elephants within the TFCA, mostly in Botswana.

The Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism described the proposed TFCA- just over half of which is located in South Africa- as a "complex mosaic of landowners".

It includes, in South Africa, privately owned land as well as land owned by the state and the South African National Parks.

On the Botswana side, the park would include privately owned land, the northern Tuli Game Reserve and cattle and game ranches. The Zimbabwean part would include a mix of communal lands, privately owned stock and game farms, and a government-owned safari area.

Mokaila said the establishment of the TFCA would enhance socio-economic development in the area.

He also jokingly alluded to his country's massive elephant population- estimated at 151,000- saying while South Africa had most of the biodiversity in the region, Botswana had the biomass.

Labels: botswana, great limpopo park, greater limpopo park, transfrontier park, zimbabwe

Government should prioritise funding of the Gonarezhou Transfrontier Park project and ensure the country derives maximum benefit since a lot still needs to be done in terms of infrastructural development.

Chairperson of the parliamentary portfolio committee on Mines, Energy, Environment and Tourism Mr Gabbuza Joel Gabbuza told the House of Assembly yesterday that the country was lagging behind in the giant project that was set to boost the tourism industry. Mr Gabbuza, who is the member of the House of Assembly for Binga (MDC), was presenting the committee's report on the developments in Gonarezhou Transfrontier Park and the impact of gold panning on the environment in the Midlands.

The transfrontier park, is made up of Gonarezhou National Park, Kruger National Park of South Africa and Gaza National Park of Mozambique.

Mr Gabbuza said little progress had been made in the Gonarezhou National Park, as a lot of infrastructure such as roads needed to be put in place. "The Gonarezhou National Park should be prioritised in terms of funding. There is a lot of infrastructure that needs to be repaired such as roads, the aerodrome, lodges and bridges," he said.

The lawmaker said in view of the 2010 soccer World Cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe should capitalise on the games by putting essential infrastructure that would bolster the tourism industry. He said land must be identified for resettling the Chitsa people who were still living in the park.

Labels: great limpopo park, greater limpopo park, mozambique, transfrontier park, zimbabwe

NELSPRUIT- Tourists can now travel through the Kruger National Park into Mozambique after the Giriyondo border post was opened on Wednesday.

The border post is part of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park (GLTP), which straddles the borders of South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.

"This (border post) will facilitate tourism flow by providing easier access within the GLTP," said spokesman of the GLTP ministerial committee, John Louw.

The Giriyondo border post links the Kruger to the Limpopo National Park in Mozambique.

The Mozambican part of the GLTP is only accessible in 4x4s, however.

Louw said tourists would also have to produce valid passports when using the border, and that the border is closed to commercial traffic.

The border will be open from 08h00 to 15h00 from April to September and 08:00 to 16:00 from October to March.

The GLTP was proclaimed in December 2002, when the presidents of South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe signed an international treaty in Xai-Xai, Mozambique.

The three presidents will officially open the Giriyondo border post early next year.

The GLTP covers a vast area of the lowland savannah ecosystem, which is divided by the Lebombo mountains running along the border between South Africa and Mozambique.

It is expected to boost eco-tourism and regional socio-economic development.

Read more about the Greater Limpopo Transfrontier Park here.

Labels: giriyondo, great limpopo park, greater limpopo park, mozambique, transfrontier park

The world's biggest wildlife sanctuary, the Greater Limpopo Transfrontier Park, got a boost yesterday when Zimbabwe decided to build a border post to facilitate passage between Gonarezhou National Park and South Africa's Kruger National Park.

In an interview yesterday, Chief Immigration Officer, Mr Elasto Mugwadi said Zimbabwe had finally chosen a site in Chitulipasi, east of Beitbridge, to construct a border post.

"A team from the Local Government, Public Works and Urban Development Ministry are currently surveying and clearing the place before construction begins as soon as possible," Mr Mugwadi said.

He said, so far the Government has injected $5 billion into the project that seeks to see the full operation of Southern Africa's first mega park.

The opening of the Giriyondo Border Post linking South Africa and Mozambique's components of the park is expected soon.

Environment and Tourism Minister, Cde Francis Nhema yesterday welcomed the move saying it was good to note that a consensus had finally been reached on the actual positioning of the border post.

"The opening of the border post will boost Zimbabwe's tourism by facilitating linkages and entry into the mega park. We hope other consultations will be conducted on possibilities for another border post to directly link our tourists with Mozambique's Limpopo National Park," Cde Nhema said.

He said the development of the mega park is being done in phases and soon the three countries will converge to open the Giriyondo border post. Zimbabwe claims to need more than Z$2 trillion to develop the whole of its side of the mega park, Gonarezhou in

Cde Nhema said logistics to have a bridge linking Zimbabwe and South Africa are also at an advanced stage.

The development of the mega park is of great interest to Zimbabwe, which has embarked on awareness campaigns meant to lure stakeholders to invest in Gonarezhou National Park and urgently upgrade it.

Read more about the Greater Limpopo Transfrontier Park here.

Labels: giriyondo, great limpopo park, greater limpopo park, transfrontier park, zimbabwe

The density of the bush was unnerving, as were the mounds of fresh steaming elephant dung. A few rootling warthogs were surprised by our quiet approach and dashed up a rocky outcrop.

A troop of cheeky chacma baboons (Papio ursinus) barked, while vervets casually leapt about in the fever trees.

Loud rustling alerted our group to an elephant feeding some 20m away: soon we spotted another two that were even closer. One nonchalantly walked onto the track. Fortunately, they seemed unperturbed by our presence.

Continuing cautiously, we came across another group feeding and enjoyed this rare privilege of seeing all the sights of Africa from the saddle.

In mid-August a group of 105 cyclists set off on the first five-day Transfrontier cycle tour through the Greater Limpopo Peace Park which straddles Mozambique, Zimbabwe and South Africa.

Armed with little except our grit, determination and a keen sense of adventure, we intrepid cyclists and our 80-member back-up team (with 100 tons of water and camping equipment) battled across 336km of sand sea and bushveld koppies, braving close encounters with some of Africa's larger fauna.

Apart from offering a rare experience of cycling through two countries, the event enabled all participants to contribute to two charities- the Peace Parks Foundation and Children in the Wilderness Programme- making our efforts seem all the more worthwhile.

Promising more chances of seeing the Big Five than probably any other bike ride ever, the route followed the largely inaccessible Limpopo National Park in Mozambique and then through the Makuleke/Pafuri region of northern Kruger National Park in South Africa.

The border post between Mozambique and South Africa at Giriyondo marked the official start of the ride. As border posts went, this had to be the most informal I have ever crossed. Simply, there wasn't one.

We braved close encounters with some of Africa's larger fauna
We filled in forms and wandered between the farm-style gate separating South Africa from Mozambique.

Ready to ride, we assembled in our pre-assigned groups of between eight and 12 cyclists with our own back-up 4-x-4 that was to follow us through the full 336km of wilderness.

Soon we were barrelling along rocky service roads that quickly degenerated into mostly disused jeep tracks. My team's energetic start was quickly overshadowed by vast stretches of sand that caused many a pile-up.

We soon spotted the first of many strategically placed tea stops. Savouring the dappled shade cast by mopane trees, we happily shovelled in vast quantities of banana bread and jelly babies while knocking back cups of tea and coffee.

Through sand, dust and bushveld all the way, we pedalled on with renewed vigour. The presence of pachyderms was very evident in the trashed trees and dung mounds.

The riding became rockier as the road veered south-east towards the Massingir Dam where we made our first camp.

It looked as though we were arriving at a battle encampment, with 80 tents and one large Arabian-style canopy erected on the banks of a dry riverbed, surrounded by baobabs.

Like successful warriors we sped into camp with a final burst of energy, knowing that a feast awaited us.

After a gruelling day's cycling, we could always de-grime ourselves, enjoy the sunset with iced drinks and marvellous massages, and then relish yet another delectable meal.

This would never have been possible without the back-up team, who managed our campsite set-up on all four days, including the transport of our gourmet caterers, tables, chairs, bike repairs, ice-making machines, and even a hot-and-cold-water shower system. This was luxury camping.

After waking to freshly baked muffins and steaming Maltabela porridge, we put our feet to the pedal, cycling up some rolling koppies that gradually took us onto a plateau overlooking a mopane-forested plain.

This viewpoint coincided with one of our morning tea stops. From here we all got a decent dose of adrenaline bouncing down rocky hills.

After a relaxing lunch of baguettes near a small stream, the road degenerated into sand, which continued for the next 20km. Irate, my "team" swore their way through it all. I was responsible for more than a few pile-ups where a forced mid-pedal stop no doubt comes as more of a surprise to those on your tail.

On a more positive note, we were all becoming far fitter and more skilled at sand-riding techniques.

Only later was it revealed that we had taken a wrong turn and added an extra 20km of soft sand to our ordeal. But how could we really complain when we had ice in our drinks and peri-peri potato wedges?

I asked Colin Bell of Wilderness Safaris, the sponsors, how this cycle tour had come about: "The motivation was to raise funds for Children in the Wilderness.

"The Pafuri camp was on the go, so we thought of a combined fundraising effort for the charities. This appeared to be a win-win situation."

Following the Limpopo River, we passed through little mud-hut villages with children waving enthusiastically at every turn.

Refuelling at the local pub and store in Chitango village, I slurped on Mozambique's Maca-Mahon brew, condensed milk and Coke, and enjoyed conversations with the locals in my bad Portuguese.

This time we set off, accompanied by Antonio and Miguel, two zealous locals on their single-geared bikes, passing en route 105 freshly laundered, white cycling shirts flapping in the wind outside a missionary church.

We battled through sandy stretches, but Miguel and Antonio were sand cyclists of note - swerving, balancing and keeping up with the group.

We calculated it was 68km later when we arrived at a spectacular campsite set up by the Limpopo river.

Hannele Steyn-Kotze, retired South African mountain bike champion, provided us with useful advice on relevant stuff such as the "techniques of sand-cycling" and how to make 80 descents look easy.

As the sun slipped over the Limpopo horizon and the tinkle of goat bells filled the warm evening air, little did I anticipate that the best was still to come.

Crossing back into South Africa at the Pafuri border post, we arrived at "Crooks Corner", where Zimbabwe, South Africa and Mozambique all meet.

The area is known as the Land of the Giants because the riverine, fever-tree, lala-palm and mopane forests are all unusually tall and often outgrow the average baobab.

A group of 40 breeding elephants had been sighted an hour before our arrival.

Warnings were not needed: we slowed to a snail's pace. Soon we stumbled across some hippos lying in tributaries of the Limpopo. Then, as the cry of fish eagles filled the air, we cautiously entered a fever-tree forest filled with jumpy impala and nyala herds.

Soon afterwards we stumbled upon the group of elephants.

Enjoying a final 42km through some of the most scenic parts of the cycle - rocky steep koppies, grasslands, lala-palm and baobab forests, we completed the tour at the Pafuri gate of the Kruger Park without any casualties, apart from a few roasties and ripped tyres.

Looking back, this seemed even more remarkable, considering we had just cycled through an International Big Five Wilderness area.

The organisers, Wilderness Safaris, proudly revealed that the tour had raised more than R360,000 for the charities followed by R30,000 more for the completion of a village clinic.

Another R17,000 was added from an auctioned cycle shirt signed by Jan Ulrich. He could not join the tour this year, but word is his chances for next year are looking very good.

Click here for the Independent article.

Read more about mountain biking in the Kruger Park here.

Read more about the Greater Limpopo Transfrontier Park here.

Labels: activities, giriyondo, great limpopo park, greater limpopo park, transfrontier park

CAPE TOWN- Government will inject a further R193 million into new Transfrontier conservation projects.

This is in addition to the R159 million that has already been invested into these projects under the previous Medium Term Expenditure Framework.

New funding includes more than R25 million for Limpopo-Shashe transfrontier park, R50 million for the Greater Limpopo and about R60 million for Maloti-Drakensburg.

Environmental Affairs Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk announced this today during his budget vote presentation.

"I am also pleased to announce that construction of the South African side of the Giriyondo Border Post between the Kruger National Park and Limpopo National Park in Mozambique has now been completed and is due to be officially opened later this year," he said.

In the next two years, the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, in collaboration with its regional partners, will engage in a major investment drive to put in place critical infrastructure and tourism development plans for Transfrontier Conservation Areas (TFCAs).

This drive will target southern African investors as well as the international investor community with key investment initiatives undertaken in Europe and the United States.

"Investment in our TFCAs is not only important because of sentiment; it makes business sense," Mr Van Schalkwyk said.

Labels: conservation, great limpopo park, greater limpopo park, transfrontier park

The great elephant herds of the Kruger National Park, under threat of culling, are migrating in growing numbers across the border into Mozambique's adjacent Limpopo Park.

Flying by helicopter over Limpopo Park last Friday, we could see several herds and single bulls moving through the bush that had formerly been denuded of game by Mozambique's protracted war and by serving as a coutada, or hunting ground, under earlier Portuguese colonial rule.

Also on the helicopter flight, sponsored by South Africa's Peace Parks Foundation, was an excited Dr Markus Hofmeyr, head of Kruger's veterinary wildlife services.

He believes that the elephants are signalling each other that it is safe to return to their old stomping grounds in the Mozambican area now that the war is over and it no longer serves as a hunting place or as a "bush meat" abattoir for guerrilla fighters.

This is a remarkable change from four years ago, when most of the first group of 25 elephants, which were symbolically handed over to Mozambique by former president Nelson Mandela to start repopulating their park, made a dash back to the safety of Kruger.

Most found openings in the high-security fence at river crossings, but Hofmeyr says one bull trundled for many kilometres along the fence until he was able to round it where it meets the Limpopo River border in the far north.

Other game, notably giraffe, buffalo, wildebeest, impala and kudu, have joined the elephants in crossing from Kruger through gaps in the fence, mostly at river crossings.

From the helicopter, fair numbers were spotted moving about in the unspoilt and beautiful Mozambican terrain of high-cliffed river gorges, valleys and rolling hills.

Hofmeyr says they, too, have probably been taking their cue from game translocated over the past two years by truck from Kruger into a 30,000 hectare enclosure in the Mozambican part to get them used to living on that side of the security fence.

The translocation of 3,000 head of game should be completed this year, and the enclosure will then be opened at the furthest point away from Kruger for the animals to start making their own way into their new country.

Professor Willem van Riet, chief executive of the Peace Parks Foundation, says the voluntary migration to Limpopo Park shows that translocations can work in the short term if done effectively. It is the small translocated groups that are enticing the others across the border.

Only a relatively small portion of the high-security border fence separating the two parks has been removed since they were ceremonially joined together two years ago, with, in name only, Zimbabwe's Gonarezhou Park.

Together they are called the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park but the actual link-up across the Limpopo River with Gonarezhou in troubled Zimbabwe will take a while longer.

Security concerns, especially about illegal immigrants and the smuggling of weapons and four-wheel-drive vehicles, have been hindering the removal of more sections of the border fence between the Kruger and Limpopo parks.

But control systems are now in place that will make it easier to proceed with the removal of more sections of the fence, which was put up in the mid-70s at the height of the regional conflict that also involved apartheid South Africa.

The migration of elephants into Mozambique will relieve some of the pressure on Kruger where their burgeoning numbers have been causing serious harm to the habitat. But it is unlikely to stave off culling.

The elephant population has simply gone too far out of control since a moratorium was placed on it in 1995. Kruger has about 13,000 elephants, and its maximum carrying capacity is set at about 7,000. Limpopo Park can at most take 3,000.

At a million hectares it is half the size of Kruger and an even bigger percentage of it is not suitable elephant habitat. So soon it, too, will be under pressure if Kruger's elephants keep migrating.

A final decision on culling, already building into a major bone of contention among animal-rights groups internationally, should be taken some time this year by Marthinus van Schalkwyk, the environmental affairs and tourism minister.

Meanwhile, the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park's elephant migration should serve as encouragement for southern Africa's transfrontier-park programme, in which the Peace Parks Foundation is playing a major facilitating role.

According to the 2002 African Elephant Status report of the World Conservation Union, the estimated population for southern Africa - South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mozambique and Swaziland- now stands at 300,000.

Botswana has by far the worst problem, with an estimated 120,000 elephants in its Chobe Reserve and Okavango Delta.

This article is from the Sunday Argus online.

Have a look at the debate on Elephant culling on the Kruger2Canyons.com Discussion Board.

Labels: elephants, game relocation, great limpopo park, greater limpopo park, mozambique, transfrontier park

MAPUTO- Fence removal between the Kruger National Park and Mozambique’s Limpopo National Park has resumed.

The removal, which will allow for the free movement of wildlife between the two countries as part of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park (GLTP), stopped as a result of financial problems. Jorge Ferrão, project coordinator for the GLTP, said that the fence is being removed in phases to allow assessment to be done on the possible impact on the wildlife.

Ferrão said the goal is to remove 50km of fence by the end of the year.

Last year's highlights in the evolution of the nascent transfrontier park have been released:

Transfrontier access

Giriyondo Border Post Development

The Giriyondo Border post will be the first border crossing inside the GLTP. The South African component was completed in mid-2004. Work on the Mozambican component began in December and it is scheduled for completion by May 2005. Some utilities will be shared between the two countries. The number of tourists from South Africa who entered Mozambique in December was up 126% on the previous year. All indications are that a vast number of these tourists will travel via Kruger to Mozambique once Giriyondo is fully operational.

Crossing point over Limpopo River

Consultants undertook an investigative analysis to identify the options for the optimal crossing point over the Limpopo River to link Kruger National Park in South Africa to Gonarezhou National Park in Zimbabwe. The report investigated crossing points, bridge options, road networks, transportation options, social, economic, geotechnical and hydrological issues. The environmental issues will be investigated in the second phase. Five options were identified and discussions are ongoing. The final decision will be made at the Joint Management Board (JMB) meeting early in 2005 and forwarded to the Ministerial Meeting, also early in 2005 for approval.

Sengwe Biodiversity Corridor

Legal Proceedings

The legal process to formally proclaim the Sengwe Corridor as a wilderness area has started. This corridor is vital to link Gonarezhou to the rest of the GLTP. In June, the key stakeholders all agreed to set up the Sengwe-Tshipise Wilderness Areas Combination Authority in order to advance the process.

Upgrading of facilities

An important part of developing the GLTP is to upgrade amenities in all three national parks to an equal standard. Upgrades and development have been ongoing in all three parks.

In Gonarezhou, tourism facilities in the camps and the associated staff quarters were upgraded, including the provision of electricity. Additional accommodation units for junior staff housing were constructed. Some camps in the northern region of the park were refurbished with the conversion of chalets into lodges. Additional tourist accommodation units were constructed in the southern region of the park. Roads are being repaired, and some gravel roads have been reopened.

In Mozambique’s Limpopo National Park (LNP), tourism operators are currently being appointed to operate the 4x4 safari trails and hiking trail. It is envisaged these will become fully operational in 2005.

In Kruger the Pafuri Gate in the far northern region was officially opened following an upgrade which included the moving of the entire complex in order to facilitate further tourism development of the Makuleke Contractual Park. Also in the far north, Punda Maria Camp received seven luxury tents and a swimming pool, and Punda Maria Gate received a new building, reception area and ablution blocks.

Conservation

Animal translocations

A total of 501 animals were translocated from Kruger to the LNP, notably 10 white rhino in August. One of the objectives of introducing elephant into LNP was to enhance the movement of elephant into Mozambique and also stimulate their dynamic movement across the border. During a recent joint venture between Mozambique, South Africa's Department of Agriculture, SANParks and Peace Parks Foundation to monitor buffalo in LNP, it became clear that this objective had been met as elephant are now migrating both ways across the border between Mozambique and South Africa.

Elephant management indaba

An Indaba on the management of elephants in GLTP was held in Kruger in October, where various options were discussed. The outcome will form part of a management plan to be prepared in 2005.

International exposure

The GLTP received a great deal of international exposure in 2004. In November the International Coordinator, Dr Jorge Ferrão represented the GLTP at the 3rd IUCN World Conservation Congress held in Bangkok, Thailand where he delivered a paper and the GLTP also had a display stand. Dr Ferrão also represented the GLTP at an international symposium held in São Paulo, Brazil in October and at the same time presented the GLTP to post graduate students at the Federal University in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Following extensive interaction between the JMB and the editor, an article on the GLTP was published in the World Book Encyclopaedia, which is widely distributed all over the world.

Management

Strategic review workshop

In May, members of the JMB participated in a strategic workshop in South Africa. The aim of the workshop was to allow them to undertake a fresh analysis around the key issues and challenges facing the GLTP, with a view to establishing a solid base for future strategic planning. The workshop recommendations were discussed at a JMB meeting in September. These included the establishment of a secretariat that would be permanently in place, the drafting of an integrated master plan, the establishment of a road network and the terms of office of the country coordinator.

Revenue sharing decision

A revenue sharing study was undertaken, with a number of options identified and discussed around this rather complex issue. After much deliberation between the three countries, it was decided that, for the present, each park would charge its own fees for entry into the park. Reason being that there is still too much difference between the amenities and wildlife viewing opportunities available in the various parks.

GLTP Treaty ratified

While the international treaty to establish the GLTP had been signed in December 2002, Mozambican law decreed that same treaty could only be ratified once a Portuguese version had been signed. An amendment to the treaty was therefore drafted and the three ministers of the environment signed the final version, including the amendments at the GLTP Ministerial Meeting held on 20 August.

Changeover of management

In accordance with the GLTP Treaty, Zimbabwe is set to take over the coordination of the GLTP from Mozambique. To ensure a smooth transition, study visits to both Mozambique and South Africa were undertaken by the Zimbabwean staff.

Labels: annual report, great limpopo park, greater limpopo park, transfrontier park

CAPE TOWN- Plans to establish a Great Limpopo Transfrontier Area- almost trebling the area of land currently protected by the transfrontier park of the same name- are moving ahead, Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism Marthinus van Schalkwyk said on
Thursday.

Speaking in Cape Town's Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens at the launch of this year's National Tourism Month, he said preparations have started on a joint marketing plan for the area, to be presented at a "high-level investor conference" next year.

"We aim this year to initiate the development of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Area, which will combine national parks, private game parks and conservancies, hunting areas, eco-tourism development areas and communal land."

These will be brought together into a "world-class eco-tourism destination with some 100,000 square kilometres under protection".

The existing Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park- which straddles Parks and sanctuaries across the borders between Mozambique, Zimbabwe and South Africa, and includes the Kruger National Park- covers about 35,000 square kilometres.

Van Schalkwyk said a further 20km of fence between the Kruger National Park and Mozambique will be taken down.

"Over the past year, South Africa has invested R40 million in tourism-related infrastructure [in the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park], dropped large portions of the border fence and completed the construction of the South African side of the Giriyondo border post."

There are also plans to build a bridge across the Limpopo to "improve access" between the Zimbabwean and South African portions of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park.

Van Schalkwyk also highlighted plans to turn KwaZulu-Natal's St Lucia Wetland Park into what he called "the first transfrontier marine park and the first transfrontier world heritage site in Africa".

"The next phase will see us expanding our partnership with Mozambique and Swaziland, whose ministers I will be meeting before the end of November," he said.

National Tourism Month is a joint venture between the government and the tourism industry, and is aimed, among other things, at encouraging South Africans to travel within their own country.

This year's events will culminate in a ceremony on September 27th in Phalaborwa, Limpopo, to mark World National Tourism Day.

Labels: giriyondo, great limpopo park, greater limpopo park, transfrontier park

SKUKUZA- The Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park (GLTP) and its plans for this year are still on schedule.

This long-term project, that will unite the Limpopo National Park in Mozambique, the Kruger National Park in South Africa and the Gonarezhou National Park, Manjinji Pan Sanctuary and Malipati Safari Area in Zimbabwe, is already more than just talk.

Although the day-to-day running of each park will remain the responsibility of each country, the GLTP will make conservation and perhaps even issues like law enforcement, much easier.

On the South African side, the new Giriyondo Border Post is almost complete. The road to the post is still under construction and houses for the officials who will man it, are being constructed at Letaba. The road to the border is about 24km long and tourists can access it by turning eastwards 20km from Letaba at the Maloponyna Windmill off the HI-6 main road between Letaba and Mopani camps.

The Makhadzi day visitor`s site has been completed and is open to the public. It is on the road to the border post and can accommodate about 100 people at a time. It has been developed on a previous military base in order to leave as small a footprint as possible.

Although the Giriyondo will be completed in the near future, tourists will only be able to use the post to access Mozambique, once the border post on its side has been completed. The funds for this project were only recently received and the Limpopo National Park is busy with the tender process. It is expected that the post will be ready at the end of 2004.

Many people would like to know how visa requirements and currency within the park will work. Giriyondo will be a normal border post, thus, visitors will need the same passport and visa as required when using the Lebombo Border Post to enter Mozambique. Currency will remain the same- in South Africa rand will be used, in Zimbabwe, the Zim dollar and in Mozambique, metichais.

Security is another issue that concerns visitors. On the South African border there are at least 10 patrols at any given time making sure that there are no poachers and illegal immigrants trying to cross the border through KNP. This will continue, with additional security at the Giriyondo.

Other activities within the GLTP include the relocation of about 6,000 animals of various species, de-mining of certain areas in Mozambique and building of infrastructure such as roads, camps and day visitor facilities.

Labels: central kruger, giriyondo, great limpopo park, greater limpopo park, letaba, mopani, transfrontier park

The upgraded Pafuri gate, which cost an estimated R2.5M, was officially opened yesterday, the Kruger National Park said.

The park`s executive director, Dr Bandile Mkhize, and the chief of the Makuleke tribe, Hosi Joas Makuleke, officiated.

The land was given back to the Makuleke tribe six years ago.

Mkhize said: "It gives me pleasure to formally open this facility and we trust that the development of this area will create a win-win relationship with everyone concerned".

The parks spokesman Raymond Travers said the upgrading of the Pafuri gate formed one component of a R40m make-over of the Kruger National Park.

This had been designed to ease access to the entire Greater Limpopo Transfrontier Park and would boost tourism, he said.

It will also make driving in to join our Northern Wilderness Walking Safari possible if you would prefer not to take advantage of a flight transfer.

Other developments in the pipeline include the upgrading of the Pafuri Border Post.

Labels: great limpopo park, greater limpopo park, makuleke, northern kruger, northern wilderness walking safari, pafuri, transfrontier park