South African National Parks (SANParks) held a press conference on Monday June 25 to respond to the negative publicity generated by the recently approved Kruger National Park (KNP) Zoning Plan.

“We would like to put on record that the approved KNP Zoning Plan is sufficiently comprehensive and covers all aspects of managing a national park in the 21st Century, and that there is nothing controversial about this plan,” said SANParks CEO, Dr. David Mabunda.

Mabunda said National Parks the world over were no longer islands from the societies that created them but an integral part of those societies. “People are part of ecosystems and their needs inform how national parks should be managed in the 21st Century.”

He said a number of factors had been ignored by the pre-2006 zoning plans, which were premised only around the biophysical properties of the park and was generally out of kilter with international best practice and protocols.

“It is for this reason that I would caution many critics not to see this as a new phenomenon for South Africa but rather as part of the entire process of societal transformation enshrined in Section 24 of the constitution, which makes it crystal clear that national parks should be managed for the benefit of society and may pursue development that is ecologically friendly,” he said.

SANParks also provided further information on the recent approval of the new Peripheral Development Zone Plan (PDZ) for the KNP. The approval comes after sharp criticism from conservationists, in particular a pressure group called Aikona (Against Interference in Kruger and other National Assets), who believe the park should not be commercialised.

SANParks plans to establish an upmarket hotel inside the Malelane Gate, which Aikona sees as commercialisation and exploitation of the park.

“The PDZ is part of a bigger KNP Zoning Plan that covers all management activities taking place in the Kruger National Park and its surrounding areas. It reflects on the latest developments and events affecting the management of the park,” said Dr Mabunda.

Among these issues are the population explosion around the park's boundaries, issues around the Greater Limpopo Transfrontier Park, the outcome of Cabinet's deliberation on land claims that threatened to consume 60% of the park’s area, the Limpopo and Mpumalanga Tourism Growth strategies and the congestion caused by the tourism heartland route linking Mpumalanga, Swaziland and Northern KwaZulu Natal wilderness areas.

In response to questions around commercialisation of certain functions of the KNP, Dr. Mabunda said it was part of SANParks’ total transformation of the conservation system in South Africa to generate money to save the rhino and create investment opportunities and jobs.

He said many conservation agencies globally were increasingly relying on commercialisation of non-core functions to manage their estates and that it was not unique to South Africa.

“In our case, commercialisation of certain aspects of the parks has seen revenue increase by almost 11%, particularly as tough global economic times are impacting negatively on state budgets and governments are balancing priorities in favour of socio-economic needs like education, health, fighting crime, providing water etc.”