Limpopo
15 August 2006
Pretoria - South African President Thabo Mbeki will together with Presidents
Armando Guebuza and Robert Mugabe, officially open the Giriyondo border post in
Limpopo (SA/Zimbabwe/Mozambique) on Wednesday, 16 August 2006.
The Giriyondo Tourist Access Facility links the Limpopo National Park in
Mozambique and the Kruger National Park in South Africa.
The Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park (GLTP) was established through the
signing of a treaty by the Heads of State of South Africa, Mozambique and
Zimbabwe on 9 December 2002 at Xai-Xai in Mozambique and comprises the Kruger
National Park in South Africa, the Limpopo National Park in Mozambique
(previously known as Coutada 16), and the Gonarezhou National Park in Zimbabwe
together with a slice of land southwards to the Limpopo River. The total
surface area of the park is approximately 40 000 km².
The Transfrontier Park aims to:
* foster trans-national collaboration and co-operation among the parties,
which will facilitate effective ecosystem management in the area comprising the
Transfrontier Park
* promote alliances in the management of biological natural resources by
encouraging social, economic and other partnerships among the Parties,
including the private sector, local communities and non-governmental
organisations
* enhance ecosystem integrity and natural ecological processes by harmonising
environmental management procedures across international boundaries and
striving to remove artificial barriers impeding the natural movement of
wildlife
* facilitate the establishment and maintenance of a sustainable sub-regional
economic base through appropriate development frameworks, strategies and work
plans
* develop trans-border eco-tourism as a means of fostering regional
socio-economic development
* establish mechanisms to facilitate the exchange of technical, scientific and
legal information for the joint management of the ecosystem.
President Mbeki will, upon conclusion of this ceremony, travel to Lesotho
where he is scheduled to lead a South African government delegation to the SADC
Heads of State and Government Summit scheduled from Thursday - Friday, 17-18
August 2006.
Investment projects in the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park
To date, ten projects on tourism infrastructure development, to the value of
R40 million, have been completed in the Kruger National Park as part of the
GLTP development process. The projects are:
* Giriyondo Border Post
* upgrading of existing access road to the proposed Giriyondo Border post
* upgrading of the existing access road to the Pafuri Border Post
* investigation into the development of a crossing point over the Limpopo River
to link the Kruger National Park with the Gonarezhou National Park in
Zimbabwe
* development of the Makhadzi picnic site and interpretative centre
* dropping of the eastern boundary fence of the Kruger National Park
* upgrading of the S60 tourist route linking Punda Maria with the far northern
area of the Kruger National Park
* development of research facilities in the northern and far-northern regions
of the Kruger National Park. This presently excludes the upgrading of The
Employment Bureau for Africa (TEBA) facilities in Pafuri as an alternative to
the re-development of the Bobomeni Research Camp. TEBA and the South African
National Parks (SANParks) are in the process of reaching agreement on the
termination on the SANParks/TEBA contract, which will pave the way for future
use of these facilities by the Kruger National Park as part of the Great
Limpopo Transfrontier Park
* Punda Maria Entrance Facility
* Punda Maria tented camp.
For further information, please contact:
Ronnie Mamoepa
Cell: on 082 990 4853
Issued by: Department of Foreign Affairs
15 August 2006
