MR JOHAN VERHOEF

Johan Verhoef holds a BSc in biological sciences and post-graduate qualifications in Museum Science, and Business Management & Strategic Planning.

After cutting his conservation teeth in the Kruger National Park, he spent the latter part of his South African National Parks (SANParks) career in a corporate capacity at its head office, where he ended his stint as co-project manager for the development of Mapungubwe National Park & World Heritage Site - the proposed core area of the Greater Mapungubwe TFCA.

During this time he was intimately involved with the park's establishment, its listing as a World Heritage Site, the planning and preparations for the signing of Greater Mapungubwe TFCA's Memorandum of Understanding in June 2006.

He also worked on a number of projects such as the park's infrastructure development funded by the Poverty Relief Programme, rehabilitation projects, the drafting of the park's management plan (including the integration of biodiversity management and cultural heritage management), and others.

He will focus primarily on taking the Greater Mapungubwe TFCA from the MoU signing stage, where the partner countries agreed on its establishment, to where it will have been developed sufficiently for the international treaty to be signed. The treaty between Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe will in effect establish the transfrontier park.

This process poses several challenges, including the development of a viable tourism plan for this rather remote area, an acceptable elephant management plan involving the well-known Tuli elephants, cross-border security issues and a general TFCA management plan.