Parks...

The Kavango – Kwando - Zambezi Transfrontier Park
(Incorporating existing parks and conservation areas in Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe.)

1: Introduction.
The Namibian, Angolan, Zambian, Botswana and Zimbabwean Governments are joining efforts to launch the world’s largest single transfrontier conservation area. The new conservation and tourism development, known as the Okavango Upper Zambezi International Tourism Initiative, was discussed during a meeting of ministers responsible for tourism held in Namibia on the 24th of July 2003.
Based on the Zambezi-Okavango River Systems, the initiative promises to secure and improve the management of natural resources, create a framework for public and private sector investment, promote community participation in tourism and jointly manage land use, among other aims. The decision follows a proposal from the Development Bank of Southern Africa several years ago to establish a major transfrontier wildlife sanctuary in the wetlands of the Okavango and Zambezi River systems.

The area surrounding the Okavango-, Kwando- and Zambezi Rivers, has been described as the “Eden of Africa” since as long ago as the beginning of the previous century. Since then very little and very much has changed. Much has changed in the sense that the areas have been carved up into 5 different countries and have experienced the scourges of war. Little has changed in the sense that hardly any development has taken place and the border is often just a line drawn on a map - people and wildlife co-exist in harmony and trek across borders at free will. This amazing area varies from the “Thirstland’ of the Kalahari Desert, to the amazing Okavango Swamps and the tropical paradise around the world famous Victoria Falls. Large sections of this area have never been fully explored but more than 460 species of birds have been listed. The animal kingdom is truly remarkable with sable antelope, roan antelope, elephant, buffalo, hippopotamus and crocodile in abundance.The oldest living human inhabitants date back to more than 80,000 years ago. When the “Abantu” settlers moved into this area round about 1750, they found small families of Khoi-Khoi, the Bushmen, living there. Today you still find groups of !Khûng and Khoé Bushmen living as hunter-gatherers amongst the Abantu tribes in.

2: Development.
During the years, the various governments established conservation areas here. Amongst them are:
1: Coutada Publica do Mocusso and the Coutada Publica do Luengué in Angola.
2: Moremi Wildlife Reserve and Chobe National Park in Botswana.
3: Kaudom-, Caprivi-, Manage- and Mudumo National Parks in Namibia.
4: Sioma Ngwezi National Park in Zambia.
5: Zambezi-, Kazuma Pan- and Hwange National Parks in Zimbabwe.

A few major towns have developed in this area of which Katima Mulilo in Namibia is more or less in the centre. Mavinga in Angola, Ghanzi and Maun in Botswana, Rundu in Namibia, Livingstone in Zambia and Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, are all more or less on the border of this proposed Park. There are a few tarmac roads in this area, some electrical networks especially towards the major towns and naturally communications networks. For the rest, it is just one huge unspoilt and undeveloped hinterland with small informal settlements where tribes-people eke out an existence farming, often in symbioses with the wildlife.

The area that is part of Angola is now in the process of negotiating peace after so many years of war but it is still very unstable with uncontrolled groups of armed bandits roaming around. The wildlife has been hunted down to the point of near-extinction and there are plenty of landmines and other un-accounted for weapons. Yet peace is coming and slowly things are returning to normal. The animals are returning to their traditional feeding areas and the refugees are returning to the “lands of the fathers” and settling into a life that they have lived for millennia.

3: The plan
The idea at present is to incorporate as large an area as possible and to establish a free roaming area for animals and tourists in this area. Also to incorporate as many as possible of the existing settlements and communities into the running of this park. Great effort will have to be made to establish sustainable, co-existing industries and farming enterprises so as to not prevent the local inhabitants from living a decent human life. This sort of peaceful co-existence between man and wildlife is possible as is the example of Kenya and Tanzania. As this has been the lifestyle of this area for so many millennia, we are confident that with the right impute from governments and international societies, we could establish such an “Eden” again. This would not only benefit the local inhabitants of this area, but also all of humankind for the ages to come.

The idea is to start preliminary negotiations with all the local communities living in these areas. Only with their active co-operation and impute can a proper assessment of the problems, needs and potential of this huge area be done. After proper research, an initial development plan can be put together. We would like to stress this important point, that the key to the success of this park, lies completely in the hands of the communities inhabiting the area – without their total approval and co-operation, the Park is doomed to strife and destruction and one of the truly “wild” areas of Africa, will be lost for ever.

The base for starting this park could initially be to town of Rundu in northern Namibia as it has the necessary infrastructure. The development of the Park will be done in phases. Initially it would be advisable to incorporate only the three parks in Namibia with those of Angola. This would constitute the biggest area with the lowest concentration of people. The settlement of Bagani would then be the centre of the Park as Bagani has a good runway and the necessary infrastructure. For a second phase, the area in Zambia and those in Botswana could be incorporated. The third phase would be to incorporate existing tribal lands or other freehold lands into the Park. Lastly, the parks in Zimbabwe could be incorporated. The existing parks there have good infrastructures but at present, the regime in Zimbabwe does not allow for international support. At the final phase, the town of Katima Mulilo in Namibia would be the centre of the Park. The necessary operational offices would then be moved there as at present the town already boasts a well-developed infrastructure.

4: How do we see the development of this park?

1: We would suggest proper feasibility research in the whole proposed area. This would involve study-groups in sustainable ecological management, social development, government co-operation, park and resources management, tourism development etc. This would involve a huge number of specialized people working in various study groups. The various findings and suggestions should then be incorporated into a final document and then the initial process can be completed.

2: If this "feasibility study" shows that the proposed park is feasible, a proper implementing plan must be drawn up. This would involve management consultants etc.

3: We think that the easiest would be to start with Namibia and try to convince all relevant parties of this plan. Then we should probably move towards Zambia and Botswana to do the same exercise as in Namibia.

4: The biggest initial problem would be Angola for the area under consideration is still totally wild and bandits roam around. The final phase would be Zimbabwe although the situation is very unstable and the possibility is there, of including Zimbabwe from the start, depending on the political situation.

5: Our Involvement
We have been actively involved with the hospitality industry since 1977 and with social development work since 1984. During that time, we started visiting groups of refugees from the civil war in Angola and attempted to assist them in any way. In 1989, a group of people started a non-governmental development trust with the explicit purpose of working in the areas of northern Namibia. By 2000, a huge refugee camp was established at “Osire” about 200-km northeast of Windhoek, the capital of Namibia. At times there were more than 25,000 refugees living there. We helped them to form some sort of leadership structure and then initiated training sessions every month. The idea of these sessions was to empower them to help their own people. We personally visited “Osire” three times to handle such training sessions.

During September 2001, we meet a group of leaders from the Okavango region for a planning session. The idea of this proposed Transfrontier Park was discussed there. The initial idea was to establish, in association with local communities, sites for the building of tourist camps. Our role would be to help with the planning, the know-how for the initial construction and the marketing of these “tribal tourist camps.” We felt that Eco-tourism is the route must go, thus we must build camps run by the local communities and incorporating their cultures and traditions in the whole operation of the camps.

The Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park

The South African section was formerly known as Kalahari Gemsbok National Park and is 9,591 square kms large. It was established in 1931 to protect large migratory populations of gemsbok, eland, wildebeest, hartebeest, ostriches and springbok. Predators such as the lion, leopard and cheetah are also found, as well as 140 species of birds.
Botswana’s part of the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park was formerly known as Gemsbok National Park, (28,400 square km) and lies in the extreme southwestern corner of Botswana. There is no physical barrier between the two countries within the park. This allows wildlife to move freely and for many years, there has been informal co-operation between the two authorities.

This co-operation was formalized by the creation of the “Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park” on the 12th of May 2000, and the two former parks are now managed as a single entity, whilst still recognizing the territorial integrity of each country. The Park is more or less in the southwestern corner of the Kalahari Desert.
The Wilderness Trail starts from Polentswa near Nossob Camp site and is only open to 4x4 vehicles. It covers some 250 kilometers that wind from pan to pan through to the northern boundary of the park, through a new check-in point at Kaa, where trail participants may wish to have a shower and replenish water supplies. The trail then turns back into the park to follow a further route along more pans. Eventually the trail re-joins the Nossob Valley road 20 kilometers before a spot called Union’s End against the Namibian border. The trail is only available on an advance-booking basis to 2-4 vehicles traveling together and taking a set time to complete the trail - only one group is permitted to commence the trail on any given day, thus ensuring that no others will be encountered along the way.
You can also enter or leave the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park through a new entrance at Kaa. Kaa (which means “nothing” in the local language, as that is what the first people found there) is not yet marked on maps.
You can now enter or leave the KTF from Botswana or South Africa. At present, we are still waiting anxiously for the Namibian government to open their side of the border, which would allow us to enter Namibia via the Park.

The Namib Transfrontier Park

Towards the end of 2003, the presidents of Angola, Namibia and South Africa signed an agreement to initiate this unique new park. The proposed park will stretch all the way from the mouth of the Olifants River – (about 350 km north of Cape Town), along the West Coast and the Diamond Coast right into the Richtersveld. Then it will jump the border into Namibia to incorporate the Fish River Canyon Park, the Sperrgebied Lüderitz, the Namib-Naukluft Park, the Skeleton Coast and Iona National Park in Angola.

This huge park will stretch for more than 2000 km along the Atlantic Ocean and will protect and develop the oldest desert in the whole world - the Namib, with its amazing bio-diversity. However, most important is the inclusion of some of the unique tribal groups in the world; the Khoi-San people of South Africa, the Strandloper and Himba people of Namibia and the Zemba and Abatwa people of Angola.

The first stage of the development of the park is already in place with the Richtersveld National Park in South Africa and the Fish River Canyon Park in Namibia forming the nucleus. From here the idea is to incorporate the huge protected areas under the control of the diamond giant De Beers, into the park. This is the area along the Gariep River, the areas between Oranjemund and Lüderitz Bay and from Oranjemund down towards Port Nolloth, Hondeklipbaai and all the way to Papendorp – the mouth of the Olifants River.

The Namib- Naukluft Park that incorporates Sossusvlei with its highest sand dunes in the world is next in line. I hope that some or all of Damaraland and Kaokoland in Namibia can also be incorporated as this area is the homeland of the fascinating desert elephants and rhinoceros.

Huge parts of the proposed park are still undeveloped and lots of research into the biosphere must still be done. At present, we know of more than 300 species of birds and 6000 species of plants. Amongst this are the amazing Welwitchia plants that can get thousands of years old. The Namib is famous for its wild horses around Lüderitz Bay and the sturdy gemsbok and wild ostriches. Nama succulents of an amazing variety are found all over with lots of species still undescribed as huge sections of the Namib are still “Sperrgebied” and thus inaccessible to ordinary people.

The Namib can be divided into distinct landscapes. From about Hondeklipbaai to Lüderitz Bay you have a “stone desert” with flats and stony outcrops every here and there. From Lüderitz Bay to Swakopmund, it is a real “sand desert’ with some of the highest sand dunes in the world. The northern part is a stone desert again.