New lease of life for Sperrgebiet campsite

A PILOT project aimed at breathing new life into the Hohenfels Campsite near Oranjemund on the Orange River has been completed.

Plans to proclaim the Sperrgebiet National Park have long been on the cards. The work in and around Hofenfels entailed cleaning up litter that had accumulated in the area over the past 40 years.The Strengthening of Protected Areas Network (Span) project, in conjunction with the Ministry of Environment and Tourism, was the driving force behind the project.Span, which is funded by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF), provided local young people with equipment and paid them to do the month-long cleanup.The Namdeb diamond company lent a helping hand by transporting the volunteers to the site every day and providing a bakkie for removing the rubbish.The Chief Warden of the Sperrgebiet National Park, Trygve Cooper, supervised the project.Span also used the cleanup campaign to make local people aware of environmental issues.According to Span’s field co-ordinator for southern parks, Samson Mulonga, the Sperrgebiet National Park will be the first park in the country to be managed in multi-sectoral way by involving the Ministry and Namdeb.The work in and around Hofenfels entailed cleaning up litter that had accumulated in the area over the past 40 years.The Strengthening of Protected Areas Network (Span) project, in conjunction with the Ministry of Environment and Tourism, was the driving force behind the project.Span, which is funded by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF), provided local young people with equipment and paid them to do the month-long cleanup.The Namdeb diamond company lent a helping hand by transporting the volunteers to the site every day and providing a bakkie for removing the rubbish.The Chief Warden of the Sperrgebiet National Park, Trygve Cooper, supervised the project.Span also used the cleanup campaign to make local people aware of environmental issues.According to Span’s field co-ordinator for southern parks, Samson Mulonga, the Sperrgebiet National Park will be the first park in the country to be managed in multi-sectoral way by involving the Ministry and Namdeb.