GREAT LIMPOPO TRANSFRONTIER PARK

The Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park is a joint initiative between Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe. The establishment of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park is a process that will link the Limpopo National Park in Mozambique, Kruger National Park in South Africa, Gonarezhou National Park, Manjinji Pan Sanctuary and Malipati Safari Area in Zimbabwe, as well as two areas between Kruger and Gonarezhou, namely the Sengwe communal land in Zimbabwe and the Makuleke region in South Africa. The total surface area of the transfrontier park will be approximately 35.000 km². The establishment of the Transfrontier Park is the first phase of creating a bigger transfrontier conservation area measuring a staggering 100.000 km². Incorporation into the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park would expand the scope of the Kruger National Park to enable viable populations of endangered wild dog, cheetah and a range of smaller endangered animals and birds to be re-established. The incorporation of an important stretch of the Limpopo River into the park will add a tremendous feature to its already incredible treasure trove. The Limpopo/Shashe Transfrontier Conservation Area aims to link the Mapungubwe National Park, including the heritage site, to Botswana’s Tuli Block and the Tuli Safari area of Zimbabwe, incorporating land along both banks of the Limpopo River and around the Shashe River (which divides Botswana and Zimbabwe). Since political boundaries seldom respect ecological systems, the transfrontier parks will be instrumental in re-establishing historical animal migration routes and other ecosystem functions disrupted by fences and incompatible legislation, thereby promoting biodiversity conservation on a regional basis across international boundaries. A second objective of transfrontier parks is to uplift the rural communities living in and around them socio-economically. The two objectives are inter-related, as it is envisaged that improving the lives of the rural communities will in turn further contribute towards biodiversity conservation by demonstrating the economic and social advantages that can be achieved through wildlife conservation.