Kruger Transfrontier Park

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'Man has been endowed with reason, with the power to create, so that he can add to what he's been given. But up to now he hasn't been a creator, only a destroyer. Forests keep disappearing, rivers dry up, wild life's become extinct, the climate's ruined and the land grows poorer and uglier every day.' -ANTON CHEKHOV, 1897

Linkwasha Safari Field Report June 2004

Not all men are destroyers. One who proved to be a creator was Paul Kruger, president of the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek, who within a year of Chekhov's observation - and with remarkable foresight for the time - set aside a little of the over-hunted, overgrazed South African lowveld for what was to become the Kruger National Park.

A century later Chekhov's words echo once more with startling clarity, as an overwhelming human tide continues to pound conservation. So there is a glorious symmetry in a plan, as radical in the 21st century as Kruger's was in the 19th, to incorporate that same part of Africa into an international park straddling game reserves in three different countries. The 'transfrontier' park has yet to be named but is widely known as the 'GKG', a reference to its core constituents: Gaza Province (Mozambique), Kruger National Park (South Africa) and Gonarezhou National Park (Zimbabwe).

This time round the park was championed by the Peace Parks Foundation (PPF), based in South Africa. In 1997 Dr John Hanks, former chief executive of PPF, was the first to carry the message of transfrontier conservation in Africa to Europe and America. Labelling such areas 'peace parks', PPF found a ready audience. Hanks recalls, 'Internationally, everyone was enthusiastic about the GKG, considered the region's flagship project, but the political determination to implement the park has made things happen faster than most people could have hoped.'

Back in southern Africa, peace parks - more formally known as 'Transfrontier Conservation Areas' (TFCAs) - have given regional politicians a new confidence to preserve wildlife habitat. Linked inextricably, and perhaps precariously, to the economics of tourism, conservation is finally on the agenda of political leaders in the subcontinent, as was demonstrated by the opening of the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park in May 2000. Uniting the Gemsbok National Park in Botswana and the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park in South Africa was a relatively simple transaction, since the parks had been co-operating for more than 50 years. Nevertheless, the TFCA captured the imagination of the policy-makers, and their attention turned to other transfrontier conservation projects, notably the GKG.
The GKG is actually two different things. There is the GKG Transfrontier Park, a 35 000-square-kilometre game reserve across three countries, through which tourists will be able to travel without a passport. It is scheduled to open in November 2001. Then there is the GKG Transfrontier Conservation Area, a 95 000-square-kilometre area that will be put to a mosaic of environment-friendly uses, including sustainable forestry and agriculture programmes. The GKG Transfrontier Park will be the economic engine at the heart of the GKG Transfrontier Conservation Area.

For now, that engine will be fuelled by the Kruger National Park. Hosting almost a million visitors a year, it incorporates an increasingly eclectic mix of lodges and trails. On its western boundary are the comparatively small but prestigious Sabi Sand and Timbavati areas, largely unfenced from the park itself. They are important local employers and by some measures more lucrative than the Kruger Park itself.

Although the Kruger National Park stretches northward right to the Limpopo River, ownership of its northernmost reaches was recently returned to the Makuleke community which had been forcibly removed in 1969. Immediately over the river in Zimbabwe are the Sengwe communal lands which in turn border Gonarezhou National Park. The Makuleke and the Sengwe have close ties, and both communities are apparently keen to see the construction of a new road planned to link the two national parks.

Gonarezhou National Park receives scarcely 5 000 visitors per annum and lies far from Zimbabwe's traditional tourist destinations. Derek de la Harpe, director of The Malilangwe Trust which manages land adjacent to the park, is convinced that Zimbabwe has much to gain from the transfrontier park. 'I think that the TFCA could transform this entire corner of the country. Tourism was Zimbabwe's fastest growing industry in the '90s, so the growth potential from opening up a whole new area is enormous.'

To the east, the Mozambique portion of the park is currently called Coutada 16 and was an enormous hunting concession until this year. It will be granted formal protected status prior to being incorporated into the GKG Transfrontier Park. What this million-hectare reserve lacks in infrastructure, it makes up for in potential. Estimates suggest that the park could absorb up to 315 000 tourists per year. Most exciting is the Massangir Dam in the south, over 20 kilometres long and up to 10 kilometres wide. Less than three hours' drive from Maputo, the dam has excellent tourist potential as a centre for wildlife, fishing and recreational activities of all kinds. As the crow flies, it is only about 30 kilometres over the Lubombo Mountains from Olifants camp in the Kruger Park.

A number of urgent tasks have to be completed in Coutada 16 before the transfrontier park opens. First and foremost is the need to train game guards. The full complement will eventually approach 200, but initially some 50 rangers will be needed to manage the area where the border fence is first breached, and any areas to which animals are relocated. Secondly, decisions have to be taken about the location and specification of the fence along Coutada 16's eastern boundary. It would be prohibitively expensive to erect an elephant-proof fence along the full 375-kilometre length, and just fencing around the villages is politically unacceptable. Extensive consultations with these remote settlements are going on, and at present - according to Professor Willem van Riet of the PPF, whose GIS unit mapped the area - it seems most likely that the rivers that form the park's logical boundary will be fenced out of it.

The GKG Transfrontier Park will cost a fortune to set up. The figures are difficult to quantify but whichever way they are calculated, they will come to tens of millions of rands. Most of this amount will be spent in Mozambique where, unlike in Kruger or Gonarezhou, there are no staff, housing or administrative facilities. The co-ordinator of the new park, Dr Leo Braack, suggests that the cost of animal relocations could run to several million rands, and estimates for the eastern boundary fence alone vary from R15-million to R40-million.

There are international funds which specialise in covering exactly these types of set-up costs. The PPF spent almost two years working on a successful application to the German government for Coutada 16. Although the application was signed off by the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the PPF prepares several such applications every year on behalf of transfrontier conservation projects. The German government has now committed nearly US$5.5-million to the project. Other important supporters of transfrontier conservation in southern Africa are the World Bank, the Global Environment Facility and the US Aid for International Development.

Of course, the GKG must ultimately sustain itself, with the bulk of the revenue having to come from tourist-related activities. Helder Muteia, Mozambique's Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, recently expressed confidence that the park will be a magnet for tourists to southern Africa and they will contribute to the socio-economic development of all three countries. No details have been released about how gate revenues are to be distributed, but in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park they are split equally between South Africa and Botswana, despite the fact that the overwhelming majority of tourists originate in South Africa. It is unlikely that South Africa could afford to be so generous in the GKG.

Is southern Africa relying too heavily on tourism to support conservation? Would a transfrontier park be more resilient in the face of the sort of political turbulence experienced by Zimbabwe than a national park would be? Shepherd Nyaruwata, head of the Regional Tourism Organisation of Southern Africa (RETOSA), certainly believes that transfrontier conservation can help to fix the multi-destination attraction of the region in the minds of international tourists. Whether it does or not, conservation's marriage to tourism has won it a temporary political profile which could never have been achieved through arguing conservation for conservation's sake.
The joint management plan for the new park will be built on plans already in place in the Kruger and Gonarezhou parks, as well as one currently being developed for Coutada 16. As this last area has no history as a wildlife reserve, this is no trivial exercise. For example, policies regarding the provision of artificial waterholes will depend on whether the eastern boundary fence is going to prevent elephants from getting to the Limpopo River. Confirming that fence's position and specification is a whole exercise in itself, requiring community consultations, technical assessments and donor involvement.
And that is just for starters. In all three countries, departments of agriculture, animal disease control, home affairs, immigration, police and security have to harmonise policies to manage the affairs of the park. In animal disease control alone, Zimbabwe and South Africa have completely different protocols for keeping 'infected' game animals separate from domestic herds; this threatens to go to the very heart of the transfrontier conservation ethos. Indeed, Dr Chris Foggins, a Zimbabwean representative on the GKG animal disease sub-committee, cannot imagine recommending that game be allowed to cross into Zimbabwe while bovine tuberculosis is rampant in the Kruger Park .

Like the pioneers they are, though, the GKG Transfrontier Park's champions seem unwavering. Dr Leo Braack, head of the GKG Technical Committee (the body tasked to overcome the practical issues), is confident that the park can be opened this year as long as money is available to get on with the job. With Christof Rau at the German Embassy in Maputo confirming that the German grant is unlikely to be available before September at the earliest, just two months before the transfrontier park is due to open, that date looks hard to hit. One solution might be to start spending money now and recover it from the German government later.

So will the park open in November 2001? Valli Moosa, South Africa's Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, is banking on it. 'Yes, our development plans are ambitious, but that's the way to get things done - through setting targets.' If the GKG Transfrontier Park does open on schedule, it will be this sort of attitude that makes it happen. The fact that politicians are sticking their necks out for Africa's wildlife is fantastic and every conservationist should applaud their courage and the perseverance of those who persuaded them to do it.

The GKG Transfrontier Park is seriously good news for conservation. Not only is it adding a million hectares of protected land to the wildlife estate, but it is being done jointly by three countries whose past has been scarred by conflict and distrust. If it turns out to be a prosperous adventure as well, we can dare to hope that environmental conservation will find a secure foothold on Africa's political agenda.

WHAT'S IN THE NEW PARK?
MOZAMBIQUE
The massive hunting concession currently known as Coutada 16 will consist of three land-use zones:
• the Tourist Zone, centred on the Shingwedzi River and stretching about 100 kilometres north from Massangir Dam, will have the highest densities of game and tourists;
• the Buffer Zone, five to 20 kilometres deep along the eastern boundary, in which human/animal interaction will be managed;
• the Wilderness Zone, a low-impact section between the Tourist and Buffer zones.
Highlights A million hectares of new land for conservation, great scope for 4x4 trails, and the huge Massangir Dam, less than three hours' drive from Maputo.

SOUTH AFRICA
The Kruger National Park will remain the most developed portion of the transfrontier park, with accommodation for some 4 000 visitors.
Highlights Tourists will be able to drive east into Mozambique or north into Zimbabwe's Gonarezhou National Park without showing a passport.

ZIMBABWE
A road will link the 130-kilometre-long Gonarezhou National Park to the Kruger National Park (KNP) through the Sengwe Corridor and across the Limpopo River. The free flow of animals will not be allowed until animal disease issues have been resolved (see box, page 69). The central part of Gonarezhou is a vast untouched wilderness with tourist activities taking place in the north and south. Animal numbers are currently low but, with restocking and the right management, game viewing could be as good as in KNP. There are two lodges in Gonarezhou and more in adjacent conservancies.
Highlights Dramatic African wilderness, including the spectacular Chilojo Cliffs, and cultural activities in the Sengwe Corridor.

ELBOW ROOM FOR ELEPHANTS
Elephants graphically illustrate the pressures that 'hard' borders place on wildlife. Free from the predations of man, elephant populations can increase by up to six per cent per year. When restricted by fences, the pachyderms can equally quickly exact an unsustainable toll on vegetation.
Relocation sites for significant numbers of animals are limited and contraception technology remains imperfect. Selling individual elephants to collections will never solve the size of the problem.

Until 1996, up to 500 elephants every year were killed in the Kruger National Park, restricting the total population to about 8 000 animals. Never denied, the culls were nevertheless managed discreetly. A moratorium on culling has been in place since then and there may be as many as 12 000 elephants in the park today.

By adding a million hectares to the range of the Kruger Park's elephants, the GKG Transfrontier Park should relieve growing pressure to resume the cull, perhaps for long enough for the professionals to develop new strategies.

To hasten the migration process (which would probably take many years if the elephants were left to their own devices) Kruger Park authorities are considering a proposal to translocate 1 000 elephants to Mozambique. A donor is rumoured to be on board already and the operation could start within 12 months. It is an astonishing plan, quite unique in its ambition, and another example of the enthusiastic impatience that is driving the GKG Transfrontier Park.

Removing the 'hard' border between South Africa and Mozambique's Coutada 16 will alleviate the pressure of too many elephants in the Kruger Park.

ROUTING THE PESSIMISTS
Whenever the GKG Transfrontier Park is discussed, a handful of issues always crop up:

IF THEY TAKE DOWN THE KRUGER PARK'S FENCES, WON'T ALL THE ANIMALS JUST GET POACHED?
It is a concern, and the deployment of game guards in the Mozambique portion of the transfrontier park is a priority. In the case of buffalo, lion and elephant, the threat is more likely to be to the local people.

AREN'T THERE LAND MINES IN COUTADA 16?
Yes, there are. According to Dr Bartolomeu Soto, TFCA co-ordinator in Mozambique, all minefields have been identified. If other funds are not forthcoming, part of the substantial grant made by the German government to establish the transfrontier park will be used to remove the mines.

ARE THERE SQUATTERS IN ZIMBABWE'S GONAREZHOU NATIONAL PARK?
There is one (minor) land dispute at the edge of the park. Despite widespread farm occupations in Zimbabwe, the boundaries of Gonarezhou are widely recognised and considered secure.

WITHOUT A BORDER FENCE, WON'T THE NUMBER OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS TO SOUTH AFRICA INCREASE?
People cross into South Africa to get jobs. The transfrontier park will increase the number of jobs in Mozambique. There are about 6 000 people living on the eastern boundary of the new park and maintenance of the game fence alone should offer hundreds of seasonal jobs. The tourist industry will create more. Besides, if it was treacherous evading lions in the Kruger Park before, how much more daunting will the journey be when the park is twice as wide?

ANIMAL DISEASE CONTROL AND THE FREE FLOW OF WILDLIFE
Game animals can harbour diseases that are commercially devastating in domestic herds. Foot-and-mouth and corridor (Thileriosis) diseases occur in all three participating countries, but other diseases do not. Zimbabwe has the most to lose if the GKG Transfrontier Park becomes a conduit for disease transmission. Two major causes for concern are:

TRYPANOSOMIASIS
Transmitted by the tsetse fly. Local strains cause sleeping sickness in humans and nagana in cattle. Most game has a natural resistance to 'tryps'. The disease must be prevented from entering the park from northern Mozambique.

BOVINE TUBERCULOSIS (BTB)
The deal breaker, temporarily at least. Deeply rooted in the buffalo population in the southern Kruger Park, BTB can infect domestic cattle and humans. It has also been identified in other species, notably predators that have consumed buffalo meat and offal. Zimbabwe's lucrative beef export contracts to Europe would be jeopardised if BTB were to spread to that country's buffalo; the authorities will lobby vigorously to prevent Kruger Park animals crossing into Zimbabwe. The long-term vision of a free flow of animals remains intact, but South African state veterinarian Dr Johan Krige can offer no comfort in the short term. 'At this stage we haven't got a solution for the problem of BTB in the Kruger Park, other than wiping out the entire buffalo population - and we have no guarantee that that would work.' With no beef export industry to defend in Mozambique, the movement of animals between that country and South Africa will be unrestricted.

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