Hello and welcome to the seventh episode of Know Your Nature! A free ReWild Africa newsletter released 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
Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park 🌍
The Kgalagadi transfrontier area is Africa's first Peace Park, which is an amalgamation of South Africa's Kalahari gemsbok park and Botswana's Gemsbok National Park. Relatively unknown, this remote and surreal landscape is a HUGE semi-desert wilderness - almost double the size of the Kruger National Park (37 000 km). It is one of the few remaining extensive conservation areas in the world.
🗺 What is a Transfrontier Park and why are they important
A Transfrontier Park is a shared park that crosses borders between two or more countries. Based on the principle that Nature does not recognise national borders (and wildlife shouldn't require a passport to travel). These shared parks create a network of protected areas with linked eco-systems, creating more space for biodiversity to thrive.
Much like our 4th newsletter on the Ai-Ais Richtersveld National Park, The Kgalagadi is also a Transfrontier conservation area, which was established through multilateral treaties between South Africa and Botswana agreeing to manage the areas for a variety of purposes. Transfrontier conservation is a great example of cooperation, to debate and collaborate on initiatives that conserve the integrity of the environment, whilst striving to develop and manage economic, social and cultural ties across the area.
While this cooperation comes with a number of added benefits, it also with a number of challenges. These challenges are found within balancing participating governments, land management authorities and local communities. If they are to reach the social, ecological and cultural successes intended they must be approached with delicacy and empathy.
ReWild Africa is excited to see the development of these transfrontier parks, as they play an important role in creating habitat and space for biodiversity to thrive, which is crucial in building back the biological integrity we need to help regulate our climate.
🦁 British colonial rule, drought and the roaring lions of the the Kgalagadi
In the old days, wildlife was so abundant that reports suggest that it would take a herd of springbok 3 days to pass. Can you imagine what it would have been like to experience? Unfortunately, there were no hunting restrictions during the British colonial time. On top of this, the worst drought known hit the kgalagadi area between 1980 and 1986, which considerably impacted population numbers. Thanks to conservation efforts since then, the park today is healthy and full of diverse life.
A must see when you are there, is a sighting of the Kalahari Lions. These lions have incredibly thick, black manes and their roars are known to reverberate through the riverbeds in the very early morning - getting you started for the day ahead! It is said that the best time to spot them is in the mornings and late evenings on the top dunes that they use as vantage points to spot their prey.
🐘 News from ReWild
It was Global ReWilding day on Saturday, checkout the ReWilding Alliance landing page
Here is a short film we made to explain ReWilding (which was featured amongst the ReWild alliance
Justin and Alessandra are currently in Uganda on a project for SEED, follow our instagram stories to see how their adventure is going.
ReWild is hiring! We’re looking for a Business Development Specialist If you know someone who understands ReWild’s film production standpoint (from a clients perspective), please send them to check out our ReWilds careers page to apply.
We highly recommend adding this park to your bucket list!
A big thank you to Drive South Africa, SAN Parks and SA Tourism for making this project a reality.
Watch on and wild regards,
Elvi the Elephant.