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COMMUNITIES
The vision behind linking protected areas and ecosystems across international borders is to achieve job creation, biodiversity conservation and regional peace and stability.
Development of a participatory management plan
One of the key elements to ensure community involvement in the establishment of a peace park is to ensure that their needs and aspirations are reflected in the joint management plan that is to be developed. To this end, Peace Parks Foundation has ssubstantive funding towards the development of such a participatory management plan for eight of the SADC TFCAs. The final draft is thus based on an extensive consultation process with all role-players and in particular the local communities.
Community participation of ceremonies
Every MoU or treaty signing ceremony is always a very inclusive event where the local communities from all the participating countries participate in the event.
Community highlights include the following:
|Ai-|Ais/Richtersveld Transfrontier Park (Namibia/South Africa)
An MoU toward the transfrontier park's establishment was signed by the respective Ministers for the Environment on 17 August 2001. This was preceded by extensive community consultations, as Richtersveld National Park is owned by the Richtersveld communities and jointly managed with South African National Parks. This management structure allows full participation by the local communities through elected members representing the four towns in the area (Kuboes, Sanddrift, Lekkersing and Eksteenfontein), as well as the local pastoralists.
Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park (Botswana/South Africa)
In October 2002 South Africa restored almost 58 000 ha of land to the Khomani San and Mier communities. The land is managed contractually by SANParks, while the communities retain commercial benefits and rights, as well as the use of the land for symbolic and cultural purposes. The !Xaus Lodge, a fully catered luxury lodge that will further benefit the communities, will open its doors in July 2007.
Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park (Mozambique/South Africa/Zimbabwe)
Mozambique proclaimed the million ha Limpopo National Park on 27 November 2001. Management and tourism development plans for the park were since completed and indicated that the park could accommodate 486 180 visitors per annum. To date, 150 people have been trained and are currently employed. Given the fact that Kruger National Park attracts 1.3 million tourists a year and that one job is created for every eight tourists visiting, Limpopo National Park has the potential to create 61 000 jobs.
Integrated Development Plan
In 2007 the Foundation embarked on a programme of supporting partner countries in the development of integrated development plans. The pilot project is the Kavango-Zambezi TFCA and the first IDP was developed for the Zambia component.
In June 2008 the Zambian Integrated Development Plan (IDP), which will ensure the sustainable and equitable development, utilisation and management of the Zambia component of the Kavango-Zambezi TFCA, was handed to Mr Michael Kaingu, the Zambian Minister of Tourism, Environment and Natural Resources. As was the case with the IDP process, the ceremonies were inclusive and guests comprised representatives of the communities involved in the process, notably the Litunga of Barotseland, and representatives of the community resource boards, community trusts, key government and local government agencies, NGOs and the private sector.
The ceremony on the 18th of June was held at Livingstone where the IDP was presented to the Minister by the communities of the southern province. On 20 June the handing over ceremony was held at Ngonye Falls in the western province. The Litunga of Barotseland, the King of the Lozi people, sent his senior indunas to this function.
The two ceremonies follow on more than a year of comprehensive and participatory planning processes by the Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA), facilitated by Peace Parks Foundation, whereby all affected communities and stakeholders identified their needs and priorities for development.
The process became one characterised by high levels of interest and enthusiasm by all, with certain groups walking for four days to hand in their submissions, some including sketches with suggestions of the zoning of their areas.
The IDP document consists of three main chapters: The Place, The People and The Plan. The document highlights 89 action projects that were identified during the integrated planning process, relating broadly to natural resource conservation and use, community development and benefits, and planning and infrastructural requirements.
Pilot projects were also identified, the detailed planning of which will form part of the IDP. These include wildlife restocking proposals, humanñwildlife conflict reduction interventions, enterprise development, capacity building and land-use planning initiatives at various game management areas.
Integrated development plans will next be developed for the Angola and Zimbabwe sections of the Kavango-Zambezi TFCA.
Lubombo
In 2005 the World Bank donated $6 million to Mozambique to develop the Maputo Special Reserve, which includes infrastructure and accommodation upgrades, and the construction of headquarters and accommodation facilities. To supplement this, a co-financing agreement between Mozambique and the Foundation from 2006ñ2012 was signed for the development, management and extension of the Maputo Special Reserve. A project implementation unit was also appointed.
Following a request by the Mozambican government to assist it with its community development strategy in the Matutuine District, the Foundation appointed a community development technical advisor to implement the strategy. This strategy aims to bring about the sustainable economic development and benefit-sharing of communities living in and around the Maputo Special Reserve in a consultative and participatory process that will also develop nature-based tourism and conservation enterprises.
A crucial step in protecting the resources of Lubombo, Africaís first coastal and marine TFCA, was taken in May with the appointment of a marine manager to the Maputo Special Reserve and Ponta do Ouro area in Mozambique. An exciting first outcome of this has been a cross-border turtle monitoring programme whereby data is being collected for the entire Maputaland coastline, from St Lucia in the south to Santa Maria in Mozambique in the north. This collaborative project between Maputo Special Reserve, Peace Parks Foundation, the Mozambican Marine Turtle Working Group (consisting of public and private sector entities, as well as local communities) and Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife in South Africa will result in the first report defining the status of turtle populations along this entire strip of coastline, as well as management recommendations