Hello and welcome to the third episode of Know Your Nature! A free ReWild Africa newsletter released every Sunday exploring the National Parks of South Africa (and beyond). Know Your Nature aims to showcase off-the-beaten-track parts of Africa, and to encourage the support of our natural heritage. #PreservationBeforeRestoration
Addo Elephant National Park 🐘
This park is very close to our hearts, as it's a world of diversity in one park. It is the only park offering the Big Seven (including the Southern Right Whale and the Great White Shark). Addo is originally one of the fastest developing parks in the world. Since the late 90s and early 2000s, Addo now connects a whole lot of biomes and ecosystems together to form one big ecological unit that functions as one.
Watch on to learn more.
🌍 The role of Addo in conserving South Africa’s flora and fauna
Climate change and the rapidly accelerating loss of biodiversity is intrinsically linked. Fragmentation of landscape is the greatest cause of loss of biodiversity, thus Addo has gone a long way to ensure that wildlife corridors remain protected. ReWild believes that this is only the start, as South Africa has only 8% of her land protected! We’re currently one of the lowest levels of protected lands in the whole of Africa. This is why protecting and restoring natural corridors is the solution.
⚡️ Uniqueness of Addo
Addo offers every adventure under the sun. From horse riding to hiking, this park embodies multifunction design. With regards to wildlife, and apart from the elephant (which are currently numbering about 600), other animals have been reintroduced to their ancestral homeland; such as Black Rhino, Lion, Buffalo, Spotted Hyena, Leopard, Eland, Burchell's Zebra and Red Hartebeest. A large variety of other antelope species such as Kudu and Bushbuck occur naturally.
Approximately 417 bird species make their home in the sanctuary’s combination of valley-bush veldt, river estuary and Karoo vegetation. Bird and St Croix Islands are important breeding spots for marine bird species such as Cape gannets, African penguins and the rare Roseate Terns.
🔭 Conservation Initiatives happening in the Park: Eden to Addo
The Eden to Addo vision is to link three mega-reserves: The Garden Route National Park, The Baviaanskloof World Heritage Site and The Addo Elephant National Park. They are looking to do this by the means of creating natural corridors to protect and restore the integrity of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning.
If you are interested in donating, you can find out more here
🐝 A ReWild update:
Two interns have joined the ReWild team this month, Lea and Sagwadi.
We’re been assisting with a Biomimicry expedition along the Garden Route.
The team is ready to embark on it’s next project with SEED to promote eco-inclusive entrepreneurship, and are heading up to Mpumalanga on Monday.
We’re currently collaborating with Neo Sephiri, Africas best kept secret for restorative skin repair.
A big thank you to Drive South Africa, SAN Parks and SA Tourism for making this project a reality.
PS - Remember, you can check out Eden to Addo Corridor Initiative here.
Watch on and wild regards,
Elvi the Elephant.
#PreservationBeforeRestoration