The National South African Parks Week has been reported as a successful affair by the South African National Parks (SANP) as number of day visitors almost doubled from last year’s figures.
This year there was a total of 53 251 day visitors that went to view various national parks during this week.
According to SANP, this was an improvement compared to last year which attracted only 28 640 day guests.
In a statement, acting head of communications at SANP, Reynold Thakhuli says: “The figures show that we have once again beaten our own records.
“When SANP started this campaign the main aim of encouraging all South Africans, especially those from the communities around the parks to share in what we envision to be the pride and joy of all South Africans.”
He says the increase of this project this year is due to the SANP programmes that were designed to connect with the broader South African society and living its vision of connecting to society.
“These numbers are encouraging and tell us that more people are taking advantage of this free week at our national parks.
“The parks that participated gave the public an understanding of the role that SANP play as protectors of the country’s natural heritage.
“The survival of the South African national parks and our natural and cultural heritage lies in the people of all South Africa and we are concentrating on involving communities to improve knowledge of the importance of conservation and an appreciation for the country’s natural heritage,” he says.
