What is the situation/progress with the proposed hotels in Kruger?

[Sprocky]

Well done to all!

If you can make the meeting, please contact RP, we need to be represented there.

[dup]

This was in the Afrikaans (Rapport) today , 29/07/2012, more and more pressure on Sanparks management.

http://www.rapport.co.za/Weekliks/Nuus/ ... d-20120728

[Sprocky]

This was in the Afrikaans (Rapport) today , 29/07/2012, more and more pressure on Sanparks management.

http://www.rapport.co.za/Weekliks/Nuus/ ... d-20120728

[Flutterby]

Can anyone give a translation for our overseas members?

[iNdlovu]

That is an excellent letter, we need to get hold of Mr Rouen Heiberg from George who wrote it and invite him here.
Flutts, agreed that someone needs to translate it, but I certainly am not good enough to do it

[Sprocky]

Ok!

Meeting of the focus group regarding the EIA of the proposed Malelane hotel confirmed for Friday 3 August at 14h00 in SanPARKS' offices at Groenkloof in Pretoria!

Africa Wild has specifically been invited as one of the two main IAAP's, which I think earns us a pat on the back!

I have asked certain Gauteng members if they can attend...others in the area please feel free to PM me if they are available and interested!

I just spoke to Tshukudu, he might be able to make it. He can't get onto the forum now due to EISHKOM , he will check in when he can and give an answer.

[Richprins]

He should get the mail when power is back on...thanks, Sprocks!

[Richprins]

I'll try to translate it later, but it basically echoes our opposition to commercialisation verbatim, calls for Dr Mabunda's resignation and was signed by 22 others!

[Lisbeth]

That is an excellent letter, we need to get hold of Mr Rouen Heiberg from George who wrote it and invite him here.
Flutts, agreed that someone needs to translate it, but I certainly am not good enough to do it

Sounds like this one!

[Richprins]

This recently:

http://www.countrylife.co.za/index.php? ... cb06b9c65a

(Go to "Features")


And my reply:

I am a member of Africa Wild, an online forum that is heavily opposed to the commercialisation of Kruger, and would like to comment on your recent article regarding Kruger's expansion programme!


(My replies in red):

The tourist face of our parks is in for a major makeover. And as the flagship park, drawing about a million visitors a year, Kruger will be in the vanguard.Financial considerations weigh heavily. Already South African National Parks (SANParks), which administers the country’s 22 national reserves, has to generate 85% of its own revenue. But changed priorities keep shrinking the state’s contribution, leaving the parks with no choice but to become more self-reliant. This is not a new issue, and SanParks still turns a profit every year. In fact, last year the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee charged with this issue advised SanParks to revise its Commercialisation policy
There is a broader objective. So not really a financial problem It is a big worry to SANParks chief executive David Mabunda in particular that nearly two decades into our all-race democracy black visitors remain slow in turning up in our parks. Fewer than a third of Kruger’s visitors are black, and hardly more than 8% of them choose to overnight in the park. Food catering is first in line for change. After years of troubles with restaurant operators, it has more or less been decided to opt for franchises that have quality standards and controls which the franchisees have to adhere to or risk losing their licences. No evidence at all suggest black people will be attracted by better food!
To avoid intruding on the reserve’s ambience, their branding will, however, be small and discreetly positioned. At least 10% of their menu items will need to offer a local flavour, “Such as, say, buffalo pies,” explains Glenn Phillips, SANParks’ managing executive of tourism and marketing, who is heading up the changes. In time visitors will also start noticing changes in the accommodation sphere, in the shape of technologically advanced interpretive facilities, in more activities offered, and in better traffic controls. SANParks calls it its ‘2022 Strategy’.An underlying theme is for tourist camps to start tending more towards destinations in their own right. In addition to serving as bases for wildlife viewing, they should become venues for conferences, weddings and such. The idea is that by drawing people to parks in this way, they will come to appreciate their wider attractions and understand the important conservation role they play. Weddings and conferences have been happening in Kruger for decades
There are bound to be concerns. How easily sensitivities get stirred already showed last year when plans were announced for two major hotel-type developments inside Kruger. Some conservationists charged that this ran counter to the park’s conservation obligation and that it would harm its wilderness atmosphere. Mabunda insisted that it was part of the transition required to make the park meet the needs of the new South African society.
The style of the proposed buildings better fits the description of ‘lodge’. The one is a 119-room complex of single-storey chalets and a main lodge set among the trees on about 14 hectares inside the park’s boundary near its Malelane entrance gate. The other is to be a relatively low-rise, double-storey building with 125 rooms, on the site inside Skukuza camp where the staff quarters used to be. The difference from existing accommodation will be that the new establishments will offer full hotel services that should prove particularly attractive to black patrons, whose preference tends to be for less rustic facilities. The Department of Water and Environmental Affairs rejected the initial EIA for the Malelane Hotel, due to various examples of inadequate forethought.
As the controversy raged, Mabunda kept making the point that development would remain at a fraction of the global norm set by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Only 6 285 hectares of Kruger’s two million hectares are used for camps, roads and suchlike. This amounts to less than 1% of the park, whereas the IUCN’s maximum for protected areas is 10%. The South of Kruger, where these and most other developments are scheduled to take place, comprises less than 10% of the Park, and is already utterly overcrowded especially during peak seasons! Also, SanParks estimates of "suchlike" are hotly disputed and the figures constantly change. The 10% mark has been passed there long ago, it is argued Unlike most of the old camps, the new facilities will be subject to stringent environmental impact assessments. Better use will be made of space as well. For instance, the proposed ‘hotel’ in Skukuza will provide the same number of beds on 1,5 hectares that the old Mopane camp offers on 30 hectares.
On the overall change strategy, Phillips says it will be well researched with the help of universities and will be implemented step by step in ways that will avoid alienating the traditional market and compromising the conservation aspect.The same university that originally provided the onley independent visitor survey we know of, which originally rejected any need for further conference facilities and luxury accommodation, is being used for a bizarre new survey that has already been labelled as unproffessional by members of SanParks' own website! Dr Mabunda has already labelled the traditional tourist majority as "purists who need to adapt", and the established foreign market who object as "those who should keep their Western noses out of South African matters" It will come down to a balancing act. Some might enjoy a campfire and the night sounds, and others a more jolly affair. Ways will need to be found to see that one group’s enjoyment does not spoil that of another. It will similarly have to be carefully assessed whether, or how, new amenities and activities affect the wilderness aspect. Phillips, for instance, finds it surprising that cycling is not allowed inside camps, or outside camps in parks where there are no dangerous animals. “One would think cycling should be encouraged,” he says.
The reassessment goes further. Walking trails with overnight camping sites could become prominent features in reserves such as Addo in the Eastern Cape which, away from its lion and elephant areas, offers precious wilderness experiences for hikers. Kruger, again, has a range of remarkable rock art sites that could feature in a special rock art route. “Even the needs of bikers must be considered. Surely there could be routes and places for them to get to without causing a disturbance,” says Phillips.A mountain-biking trail was established at Olifants Camp more than a decade ago, and found to be unviableThe qualities, amenities and servicing of existing huts and bungalows will also be reviewed. After a successful six months of our website offering a direct link to camp managers to ensure that maintenance issues are dealt with speedily, providing photographs etc., staff were advised to stop answering tourist queries upon threat of disciplinary action, and only the official channel is allowed, which does not make allowances for photographs, and has been proven to be ineffective One aspect being looked at seriously is that of switching to greener technologies, such as solar power.
A big requirement in Phillips’s book is the provision of more tourist-friendly interpretive facilities. He says it was the one thing that struck him above all on a recent study tour of North American parks. “They are brilliant in using modern technologies to give visitors information about the history and intricacies of their surroundings.”Traffic congestion, particularly during peak holiday periods in the southern regions of Kruger, has been earmarked for fixing. Monitoring has shown that on some roads delivery vehicles contribute to the problem. This might be fixed by restricting their use of such roads to certain hours. Ways of easing congestion, as often caused by lion sightings, are under consideration as well. One idea is to have traffic controllers shut roads once a fixed number of cars have converged at a sighting. Traffic could be diverted or let through as others leave.The best way is to stop cramming more and more tourists into Kruger for pure financial gain. The only "other hours" delivery vehicles can travel in is at night, which is a roadkill and security nightmare waiting to happen, especially regarding the current rhino poaching fiasco.
Somewhere in the thinking, though, there seems to be the makings of a bigger strategy aimed at reducing the use of private vehicles and encouraging more use of the park’s own and contracted game-viewing vehicles.There are at least 5 further similar lodges envisaged on the periphery of Kruger, besides the two mentioned, along with smaller camps in pristine areas of Kruger, and 7 new picnic spots. This while existing luxury private concessions within Kruger have been mostly operating at less than 50% capacity, with one already having closed its doors . Already visitors to the new upmarket lodge at Malelane will need to leave their vehicles in a special parking area at the reserve’s entrance gate and make use of the park’s transport services and game-viewing vehicles throughout their stay.Featuring prominently in the business plan are proposals for striking up a better relationship with the park’s immediate neighbours. It includes working more closely with the surrounding tourist operators, such as by passing on bookings to hotels and lodges outside the park when camps are booked out.That is a lie. SanParks have stated in their vision for the future that they feel entitled, for some reason, to take over the tourist income of neighbouring private operations, and are making life as difficult as possible for day-visiting Safari Vehicle OperatorsBut one of the most intricate challenges is to develop more constructive ways of cooperating with the many villagers and communities living along Kruger’s western boundary, often in poverty. There are a number of Government Departments who have huge budgets and are tasked with community upliftment. It is not a National Park's problem
The successful land-restitution claim that some made on about half of Kruger Park has rendered the situation more compelling. The claimants were persuaded by government not to take possession of the land in exchange for financial compensation. But SANParks realises the situation will remain unsettled until they have a stake in the park that allows them to share in its benefits as well. In fact, the extent of land claims in Kruger has been the subject of much conjecture, and also a more than decade-long process, which is now suddenly a crisis, according to Dr Mabunda. Surrounding communities...in fact the entire Lowveld, know perfectly well that Kruger brings in a massive amount of local tourist income. SanParks has acknowledged that to be at least R2 billion annually. To accomplish that is going to require innovative thinking.