South Africa’s National Parks are growing
The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) South Africa has announced that four of South Africa’s National Parks have increased in size. The expansion comes with a declaration on 02 February 2024 which incorporates an additional 20 206 hectares of land into Namaqua National Park, Mokala National Park, Karoo National Park and Agulhas National Park.
The largest of these expansions was for the Namaqua National Park in the Western Cape which has grown by 18 391 hectares. The size Mokala National Park in the Northern Cape was increased by 844 hectares, Karoo National Park in the Western Cape grew by 397 hectares and Agulhas National Park, also located in the Western Cape, was expanded by 574 hectares.
The expansion of the four National Parks was made possible through the work of the National Parks Trust of South Africa (NPTSA) and WWF South Africa. The NPTSA, which is managed by WWF South Africa, helps South African National Parks (SANParks) to acquire land to expand South Africa’s National Parks to meet conservation targets and create spaces where our country’s unique fauna and flora can thrive.
The expansion of Namaqua National Park covers an array of threatened veld types and will help to protect rare, threatened and endemic plant species, among them the iconic kokerboom (or quiver tree). In addition, it encompasses a 6km section of a 41km stretch of the Buffels River and the upper catchment of the Swartlintjies river system, both of which are important for the overall ecological functioning of the park.
Mokala National Park provides grazing for a range of rare antelope (such as sable and roan) and other species, including disease-free buffalo. Its expansion includes Northern Upper Karoo vegetation of which less than 1 percent is under formal protection.
Karoo National Park is home to Cape mountain zebras, 20 pairs of breeding Verreaux’s eagles, 864 species of plants and has the highest density of tortoises in the world (five species), while the Agulhas National Park encompasses the southernmost tip of the African continent and features threatened habitats of the Cape Floristic Region on the surrounding Agulhas plain.
