SANParks announces free access week

MBOMBELA – South African National Parks (SANParks), together with Total South Africa and FNB, will be hosting the 15th annual SA National Parks Week from November 16 to 20. The Kruger National Park offers a wildlife experience that ranks with the best in Africa.

The park was established in 1898 to protect the wildlife of the South African Lowveld. It covers nearly two million hectares.

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The Kruger National Park is unrivalled in the diversity of its life forms and a world leader in advanced environmental management techniques and policies. Kruger is home to 336 tree, 49 fish, 34 amphibian, 114 reptile, 507 bird and 147 mammal species. SANParks chief executive officer, Fundisile Mketeni, said, “SANParks postponed the free access week which is traditionally held in September, to November, due to the Covid-19 alert level 2 regulations which restrict the number of persons allowed within public spaces.

Additionally, we have implemented extra visitor management procedures in the parks to manage visitor volumes in line with regulations to further mitigate the risk of the spread of coronavirus at this time.” SA National Parks Week is an annual campaign that gives all citizens the opportunity to enter most of the parks managed by SANParks for free, with the exclusion of Namaqua National Park and Boulders section at Table Mountain National Park.

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The free access to parks does not include free access to accommodation facilities and other tourist activities. Every year SANParks aims to increase the number of locals that are granted free access to national parks during this time. Since the programme’s inception in 2006, 551 393 South Africans have been afforded the opportunity to enter national parks. Mketeni said, “The week, in partnership with Total South Africa and FNB, is meant to cultivate a sense of pride in South Africa’s natural, cultural and historical heritage and a deeper appreciation of biodiversity. It is important for South Africans to visit and know the importance of national parks.”

SANParks has highlighted the growing need for national parks to be relevant, particularly to young people and communities living adjacent to parks.

“Through our socio-economic transformation programmes and our expanded public works programme, we work closely with communities living adjacent to national parks in order to be more inclusive so we can tackle issues of wildlife crime with their help, afford them more access to parks for cultural use, inform young people about the different career options that parks have to offer and create job opportunities. SANParks hopes to strengthen and enable those communities to reap the benefits of the national parks,” Mketeni said.