South Africa’s Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, David Maynier, has declared 18 properties in the Eastern Cape, totalling around 10,226 hectares, as Grasslands National Park. The declaration was published in Government Gazette No. 55531.
The new park lies in the Eastern Cape highlands, between Nqanqarhu and Rhodes, and aims to protect grassland ecosystems that are under-represented in protected areas, as well as part of the Eastern Cape Drakensberg Strategic Water Source Area. It will be managed by SANParks, the national parks authority.
The park was established mainly through the biodiversity stewardship model: landowners keep their land under agreed conservation arrangements and can continue compatible farming. WWF South Africa helped coordinate the process alongside the department and SANParks.
According to the minister, it is the first national park in the country established primarily through this model.
