Addo Elephant National Park is going green
South African National Parks (SANParks) has announced that various solar-powered projects have been commissioned throughout Addo Elephant National Park in South Africa's Eastern Cape.
A biofiltration system has also been installed, which is recycling up to 80% of the National Park's busiest camp’s grey water.
The 17 largest boreholes in Addo Elephant National Park have been converted from diesel generators to solar. These boreholes supply drinking water to animals at waterholes and also service a number of staff homes across most of its 160,000 hectares. The project to convert the boreholes got underway three years ago, with the latest addition coming online earlier this year.
An additional 20 hybrid solar systems dotted throughout Addo Elephant National Park provide power to Anti-Poaching Unit staff accommodation and a law enforcement fusion centre.
A new solar project will allow Addo Elephant National Park's Main Camp, the main hub of the National Park with the most accommodation units, staff housing and where most of the activities depart from, to go off-grid by the end of next year.
Addo Elephant National Park's newly built biofiltration plant is recycling the majority of grey water from Main Camp, which in turn gets fed to a nearby waterhole and the bird hide. It is also set up to, in future, supply water for the flushing of toilets at eight new family accommodation units currently being built. The biofiltration plant is able to handle 120 kilolitres of sewerage per day.
Addo Elephant National Park is located about 30km outside Gqeberha (formerly Port Elizabeth) in South Africa's Eastern Cape. The National Park
spans across an area of approximately 1,640km² and consists of a
variety of landscapes, including dense forests, rolling hills, open
grasslands, and coastal dunes. Addo Elephant National Park is not only home to the traditional Big 5, but the Big 7, which includes the Southern right whale and Great white shark in its marine environment.
