2005/2006 - SANParks

2006South African National ParksNAMAQUA NATIONAL PARKOVERVIEWThe current size of the Namaqua National Park (NNP) is 77 181ha witha projected 150 000ha once the park has been fully consolidated in thenext years. The farms Graskom 1 919ha; Vorentoe 2 160ha; Ghaams 2143ha, Annex Kanoep 973ha, Diknek 1 770ha; Blommedal Boerdery2 800ha; Riethuis 1 600ha and portion of Graskom and a portion ofTaaibosch duin 1 700ha, as part of the Corridor, were purchased.Negotiations to purchase the remainder of the farms earmarked for thecorridor are in an advanced stage and are due to be fi nalised in the nextfi nancial year. Due to the new Protected Areas Act which came in effecton the 1 November 2005, the fi nalisation of the De Beers property draftwas postponed until early 2006. The De Beers property draft is now upfor review and fi nalisation.CONSERVATIONGame translocation was completed in May 2006 with a total of 53 animalsbeing introduced: 27 Gemsbok and 26 Hartebeest.The Hartebeest had a very good lambing season and approximately14 young were counted. Research on the quartz sites continues andfi eld work will be completed in October 2006. ANBI visited the park forcollection of plants within low collection data and further data collectionfor monitoring recovery rate at Skilpad was completed.The fences require constant attention to prevent animals escaping. Thisis critical and will need urgent funding. Due to the delayed discussionswith De Beers it was decided to withdraw the coast care workers fromthe coast at the end of November 2005. They were then deployed inthe park on the fence line.Namaqua Wilderness Corridor (NWC)A planning session was conducted with all stakeholders in the processof establishing the corridor as navigated by Conservation International’sSKEP team and Namaqua is a partner along with the Surplus PeoplesProject (SPP).TOURISMVisitor numbers are dependent on the fl ower display but have been verylow due to heat and drought. Because of the parks’ locality it is not yeta popular holiday destination during the hot summer months.73