South Africa: Combining traffic jams with tourism priority

Original title: South Africa: Combining traffic jams with tourism priority

South Africa is one of the countries with the richest biodiversity in the world. Although South Africa accounts for only 2% of the world’s land area, South Africa has 10% of the world’s plant species and 7% of the world’s reptile, bird and mammal species.

National parks are important homes for diverse species in South Africa. The latest statistics from the South African Bureau of Statistics show that as of 2020, the protected land in South Africa is 112,800 square kilometers, accounting for 9.2% of South Africa’s land area. Among them, national parks account for 3.5% of the country. South Africa currently has nearly 20 national parks distributed in 7 provinces.

Tourism development, combating poaching, and expanding participation are the main measures to protect biodiversity in South Africa’s national parks.

Reasonable tourism development can provide funds for the protection of biodiversity. South Africa’s environmental protection laws stipulate that national parks should be created as natural tourist destinations in an environmentally friendly manner. According to statistics, 80% of the funding for South Africa’s national parks comes from tourism, and the protection of biodiversity in national parks also depends on the prosperity of tourism. However, the new crown pneumonia epidemic has continued to spread since last year, and strict epidemic prevention measures have had a great impact on the tourism revenue of South Africa’s national parks.

Since 2006, South Africa has held a “National Park Week” every September to open national parks to the public for free. As a tourism promotion measure, the event aims to allow South Africans to appreciate the natural beauty of their country, showcase the superior environment of the national park, and encourage the public to use the national park as a holiday destination. Affected by the epidemic, this year’s “National Park Week” event was postponed to November to ensure the health and safety of tourists.

There are fewer tourists during the epidemic, but thieves are still rampant. More than 80% of rhinos in the world live in South Africa, and South Africa has become the hardest hit area for rhino poaching. Fighting poaching is the key to protecting wildlife in South Africa. South African National Parks have made many efforts to protect rhinos.

In addition to the state’s management behavior, South Africa has also expanded private participation to create a “community with a shared future” that protects biodiversity. According to relevant personnel from the South African Ministry of Environment, South Africa is encouraging the South African people to participate extensively in biodiversity conservation, ensuring that the operations of national parks are highly linked to the well-being of surrounding communities, thereby “connecting society and national parks more widely.”

The South African National Park Service announced a few days ago that it will establish a new national park in the mountains near the border with Lesotho. The special feature is that the land in the national park is not fully nationalized, but in cooperation with the landowners of the local community, inviting them to voluntarily include the land in the national park and participate in the management of the national park. In return, local people can participate in wetland restoration, tourism reception, etc., and obtain much-needed employment opportunities. They can also stay in the villages where they have lived for generations, continue to engage in agriculture and animal husbandry, and enjoy the improvement of water resources and grassland environment brought by the national park. (Tian Shida, Economic Daily reporter)Return to Sohu to see more