Undoubtably Africa's most ambitious conservation effort is the proposal to merge southern Africa's parks into Trans-Frontier Conservation Areas. The benefits of such a scheme are many, but the practicalities are extremely complex. David Holt-Biddle reports on the progress made so far.

The idea of wildlife conservation areas that transcend political boundaries and stretch over the endless horizons of this great continent has long been a dream in Africa. Around countless camp fires, visionaries have sketched maps in the dirt, showing parks that flow over the borders of South Africa into Mozambique, Botswana and Zimbabwe, over their borders into Namibia, Zambia, Malawi and Tanzania, and over their borders still into Angola, Kenya, Uganda, and so on. A vast continental wildlife sanctuary, where the great herds of Africa roam at will..... A pipe dream, still? Perhaps not.....

The concept of Peace Parks, or the more prosaic Trans-Frontier Conservation Areas (TFCAs), has indeed been around for a long time, but the dream is finally showing signs of becoming a reality. And the fundamental reason for this is peace.

The sub-continent has been in a state of conflict for nearly four decades. Colonial wars in Angola and Mozambique became civil wars; there was the "bush war" in Rhodesia; the border conflict in South West Africa; "the struggle" in South Africa; and upheavals in countries like Zambia, Lesotho, Swaziland and Malawi. None of these conflicts occurred in isolation. They spilled over into their neighbouring states and for years the sub-continent of Africa was embroiled in what could only be described as a regional conflict.

And then slowly peace began to break out. Rhodesia became Zimbabwe, South West Africa became Namibia, Angola and Mozambique finally settled, and the New South Africa emerged. The stage was set, the players in position. All that was needed was a script and a director. And along came the Peace Parks Foundation.

The creation of the Foundation followed a meeting between Dr Anton Rupert, one of South Africa's richest men and the driving force behind a number of successful environmental projects, and President Joachim Chissano of Mozambique. They discussed the possibility of linking conservation areas in southern Mozambique and adjacent protected areas in South Africa. That was in early 1990, but the seed of an idea had been planted, and by February 1997 it had borne fruit. With a life-giving injection of R1,600,000 from Dr Rupert, the Peace Parks Foundation was established with veteran conservationist Dr John Hanks at the helm.

As a conservationist, John Hanks' record in Africa is without equal. His vast experience in East, Central, and southern Africa stands him in good stead when it comes to wearing his conservation cap for the Foundation, but perhaps it is his other cap that is going to be even more important.

"The Peace Parks Foundation," says Hanks, "grew out of a realisation that what was needed was not an organisation to run TFCAs - they are for the most part already there on the ground - but one that would facilitate the creation of such parks and, perhaps more importantly, raise the funding." And Hanks does both well.

The primary objective of the Foundation is clearly to help to create a network of protected areas throughout southern Africa. These will conserve the region's unique and remarkable biological diversity and in some instances the cultural heritage as well. There is a second objective. The idea of protected areas being green islands in the human sea of Africa has long been out of favour. The current thinking is rather to include local communities wherever possible in conservation programmes, both directly and indirectly. This is basically a new twist on the "winning the hearts and minds" approach to getting people on side, rather than in opposition.

This is where the Foundation comes in. Many of the peace parks are likely to have people living within their boundaries, as well as on their borders. It is vitally important that the parks are seen as a positive thing for those communities. Therefore, general development opportunities, including profit sharing where feasible and specifically job creation, are very much part of the Foundation's brief.

At this stage seven TFCAs are envisaged:

The Richtersveld/Ais Ais Peace Park.

The Richtersveld National Park in South Africa is an area of wild and arid mountain country that juts over the Orange River into southern Namibia. The idea is to link this with the Fish River Canyon, a system surpassed only by the Grand Canyon in the United States of America. This region, part of the Namib Desert, is understood to be one of the world's richest arid zones as far as biodiversity is concerned. The Richtersveld is particularly important as it is a Contractual Park, its creation and management basically a contract between South African National Parks and the Nama people, the largely nomadic herders who have lived in the region for centuries.

The Gariep Peace Park

The Gariep is the Hottentot name for the Orange River, one of only two perennial rivers flowing through the Nam the other being the Kunene on the border between Namibia and Angola. This park, on both the South African and Namibian banks of the river, hosts large areas of Orange River-Nama Karoo vegetation, a unique dry-land, riverine vegetation type.

The Kalahari Peace Park

This would encompass the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park in South Africa and the Gemsbok National Park in Botswana, a huge and important stretch of the Kalahari Desert which covers most of Botswana and spills over into South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Angola. It is an important desert habitat with floraland faunal regimes quite different from the Namib Desert. Nomadic Bushmen or San hunter gatherers once lived in this area, so this too could become an important cultural park. This Peace Park is the one closest to becoming a reality and may even be signed into being by the end of 1998.

The Dongola/Limpopo Valley Peace Park

Rudyard Kipling's great, grey, green, greasy Limpopo is in fact a sand river for most of the year, but it is still a very significant ecological zone, including the confluence of the Limpopo and Shashe Rivers. It is also an important cultural region, as it includes many noteworthy archaeological sites, particularly Mapungubwe in South Africa, originally part of the empire of Great Zimbabwe.

The Kruger/Banhine-Zinave/Gonarezhou Peace Park

This is perhaps the park that has created the most attention, as it includes one of Africa's oldest and mostfamous conservation areas, the Kruger National Park. The Peace Park would stretch north across the Limpopo to link up with the Gonarezhou National Park in Zimbabwe, and eastwards into Mozambique to include the Banhine and Zinave National Parks. This vast conservation area could re-establish the ancient latitudinal migration routes of the great herds of game in this region. It would also be an important cultural park, as there are many archaeological sites in the region.

The Maputaland Peace Park

This park would include parts of northern KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa and much of the southern Maputo Province of Mozambique. Again, this would create a vast area that could re-establish ancient migration routes, particularly for the elephants on both sides of the border. It would include important ecological zones stretching from the Lubombo Mountains in the west, across the coastal plains to the magnificent shoreline and the coral reefs in the Indian Ocean. It would also be important from a cultural point of view as the region has been inhabited for centuries.

The Maluti-Drakensberg Peace Park

This park would include parts of the Maluti Mountains of Lesotho and the Drakensberg Mountains that tower over both Lesotho and South Africa, a broad and huge curve of territory stretching from the Sehlabathebe National Park (Lesotho's only National Park) in the south up to the Royal Natal National Park in the north west. This park would include unique African alpine and sub-alpine ecological zones, as well as what is probably the richest gallery of Bushmen (San) rock art in Africa.

There are many other potential Peace Parks, but in this first stage these seven are the main projects.

All these potential Peace Parks have a number of aspects in common: they all cover areas of important biological diversity, as well as aspects of the rich human cultural heritage of southern Africa, and they would all provide the sort of sustainable developmental opportunities so desperately needed throughout the region. Their creation would benefit both the natural environment and the people who live in those regions.

In practical terms, Peace Parks involve not only the conservation authorities in the countries concerned, but virtually every government department, from customs and immigration, to water affairs and trade and industry. It is getting all these disparate interest groups together, and getting them to reach agreement, that takes the time. But this is what the Foundation is doing, and with the help of institutions like the World Bank, it is already putting money into creating job opportunities, training rangers and other officials, purchasing additional land, game relocation and restocking, community education and anti-poaching measures.

So, Peace Parks appear to be happening, but a final word from John Hanks: "This whole initiative comes down to three points - it is an international partnership between countries, it is a job-creation opportunity, and it is biodiversity conservation - but the partnership is only going to work if all the partners trust and respect one another."

And do they, or is this all still just a pipe dream? Apparently yes, and apparently no. With the Peace Parks Foundation and the people of southern Africa firmly behind it, and with the peace holding, the dream looks set to become a reality.

David Holt-Biddle is one of South Africa's foremost environmental and travel journalists and broadcasters. He travels extensively throughout Africa.

COMMENT By Julia Leslie

On paper, TFCA's provide excellent opportunities for sustainable use of natural resources; improving rural economies and maintaining peace among once conflicting nations. Furthermore the improvement of infrastructure in and around the protected areas could assist local communities and tourism initiatives to develop.

Before these initiatives can be realistically put into practice there are two core issues that must be addressed.

1. The Local Community.

Providing new facilities to rural communities undoubtedly creates opportunities. However, the question of whether local communities wish for such developments must be addressed - many local people still perceive protected areas as "playgrounds" for ex-colonial powers.

Although TFCA's intend to change this perception by including local people, there are three pertinent questions:

1) Who is the local community?

2) Do they want to be involved?

3) How can they be involved?

It is vital to establish a long-term commitment for new initiatives, by the people. This can only be achieved by empowerment, which means that investment must come from all stakeholders - relying only on external resources is too reminiscent of the past.

The creation of long-term sustainable programmes requires years, with perhaps the initial period receiving few returns. This "make or break" situation has to be overcome, and can be, if local communities have invested in it.

2. The Natural Resource.

In the context of nature tourism , the environment is fundamental, and both rely on each other for their survival. An obvious statement perhaps, but many protected areas still have the scars of previous land uses, supplying evidence of the habitats fragility and a warning to present users.

If TFCA's increase tourism it is essential that the seasonal ecosystem dynamics are fully understood - after all, one would not pursue a business venture without researching the primary resource.

The following questions could then be answered:

1) What are the consequences of increasing visitor numbers on the natural ecosystem?

2) What is the tourist carrying capacity of the land?

3) How can the impacts of visitors be reduced?

It is imperative to maintain a long-term monitoring programme so that negative pressures can be recognised and dealt with in the initial stages. If this is not achieved, a sustainable industry cannot succeed.

The question of whether TFCA's are a reality or fantasy, depends on two criteria:

A long-term, sustainable commitment being accepted and implemented equitably by all stakeholders.

The realisation that we rely on nature and must adapt accordingly to meet long-term objectives.

UK-based Julia Leslie is an independent researcher specialising in the socio-economic and ecological benefits of ecotourism in Southern Africa.

THE MONEY

The main means of fund-raising is the Peace Park Club. The Club was created because, as John Hanks has pointed out, there is considerable donor fatigue as far as Africa is concerned and it was felt that rather than simply ask for more donations, a Club should be formed with specific benefits to members.

A 10-year individual membership costs US$5,000, and this brings substantial discounts on air fares to and from southern Africa, on car hire and accommodation in conservation areas and on other facilities and services. A company membership is a one-off US$50,000, with even more benefits.

The Club is exclusive, in fact exclusive enough for Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands to be its International President and an active member. The membership target is 1,000 individual members and 100 company members by the year 2000.

Along with the Peace Parks Club, the help of international agencies and other straight fund-raising activities, the Foundation hopes to have raised US$50 million by the end of 1998, with most of that being spent directly on the seven proposed parks.

WHO BENEFITS?

Simply put, everyone. The objectives of the Peace Parks Foundation are:

- To identify land for the consolidation of proposed parks and to facilitate the purchase of that land. This would mean direct financial benefits to the seller.

- If required, to re-establish game in proposed parks. Again, direct benefits would go to those who sell and transport game.

- To create opportunities for eco-tourism ventures, thus bringing job and entrepreneurial opportunities for local communities. These would include training for a wide range of positions, from waiters and tourist guides to trackers and anti-poaching units, as well as managerial positions in tourism and conservation fields.

- To develop infrastructure in park areas, like bringing in power and water. This would be of direct benefit for local communities which at present do not enjoy these facilities.

- To provide investors with good returns on their investments, as tourism, particularly ecotourism, is the biggest growth industry worldwide.

These objectives identify the human beneficiaries, but obviously the advantages for biological diversity conservation are enormous. The more successful the Peace Parks movement and the greater the area covered, the greater the benefits for the people on the ground, the people investing their time and money, and the fauna and flora of the areas covered.

Published in Travel Africa Edition Four: Summer 1998. Text is subject to Worldwide Copyright (c)