National Park Service of South Africa

The following blog post was written on the evening of the 23^rd July. Due to technological restrictions it was posted at a later date.

Our first stop this morning was at the National Park Service of South Africa to have a presentation about Transfrontier Conservation Areas. Our presenter was Ms. Peit Theron, who did a fantastic job explaining the specifics of the international parks South Africa is a park of. As a Minnesotan, the explanation reminded me a great deal of the relationship that the United States and Canada have to run the Boundary Waters Canoe Area.

The Transfrontier project allows countries to form a single park, crossing national boundaries for the benefit of the animals that inhibit the area and the people who want to visit. The relations between the different countries vary, depending on the political and social climate of the country South Africa is negotiating with. Ideally, the fences along the borders would be taken down to allow animals and people to flow freely within the constraints of the park-or at least arranged a shared entry gate into the park from more than one country. However, this takes a great deal of negotiation to orchestrate and it is not possible in areas where cross-border crime is a concern.

The planning process to arrange a Transfrontier Conservation Area is intense, usually taking 1-2 years. Then the process moves into the treaty phase which also takes up to 2 years. After those components are completed the project moves to the development phase, which can take 25 years and is managed by a joint committee of members from each country.