Reviving Namibia, SA cross-border tourism

Progress in developing cross-border tourism parks and events within the Ai-|Ais/Richtersveld Transfrontier Park and commitments made before the Covid-19 pandemic were recently assessed.Namibia Wildlife Resorts (NWR) managing director, Dr Matthias Ngwangwama, was part of a delegation that travelled to Pretoria, South Africa, from 2 to 4 November to undertake the assessment.According to NWR spokesperson Nelson Ashipala, the ǀAi-ǀAis Richtersveld Transfrontier Park is a cross-border park straddling the border between South Africa and Namibia."It was formed in 2003 by combining the Namibian |Ai-ǀAis Hot Springs Game Park and the South African Richtersveld National Park."A treaty was signed in August 2003 between Namibia and South Africa to create the park, which spans 5 920 km².Effective managementThe landscape is renowned as a biodiversity hotspot and boasts some of the richest succulent flora in the world.Ashipala said that the treaty is a commitment between the governments of Namibia and South Africa to foster transnational collaboration and cooperation between them.“This will facilitate effective ecosystem management in the area comprising the transfrontier park.”In addition, the treaty undertakes to develop transborder eco-tourism to foster regional socio-economic development.Exciting opportunitiesNgwangwama expressed his excitement about efforts to revive the transfrontier commitment and highlighted how activities such as the desert night cycling activity that last took place in 2017 and the desert kayak trails brought about innovative and sustainable ways to raise funds for conservation activities in the park while creating short-term jobs and training opportunities."With the cycling race that involved competitors having to pedal day and night across the beauty of the |Ai-|Ais National Park, we saw throngs of adrenaline hunters enjoying themselves and creating strong marketing for Namibia and the park. We hope to see the same soon again. This means more revenue for Namibia in terms of tourism," he said.NWR, as a member of the Joint Management Board as per the treaty, is the national implementing agency in Namibia as per its mandate of managing tourism facilities in national parks.

Reviving Namibia, SA cross-border tourism

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Namibian Sun 2025-04-07

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Reviving Namibia, SA cross-border tourism

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Namibian Sun 2025-04-07

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