South
African National Park (SANParks) saw 39 841 visitors to the parks during South
African National Parks Week from 16 November to 22 November.
This campaign – under the established theme ‘Know Your National Parks’ – allowed locals with
valid identity documents an opportunity to spend a day at a national park of
their choice free of charge.
According
to SANParks CEO, Fundisile Mketeni, the objective of the week is to give all
South Africans a chance to enjoy and experience the beauty and majesty of the breath-taking National Parks.
“We had just under 40 000 people visit the parks
during the focus week this year. National
Parks Week aims to create a culture of pride in all South Africans in their
relationship with the country’s natural, cultural and historical heritage. When
people start to take pride in the national parks, then we believe that they
will start to understand the importance of conservation.”
The
feature element of this campaign is the free access granted to all South
African day visitors carrying their official Identity Documents. Since its
inception in 2006, National Parks Week has seen an influx of 591 234 day
visitors in all participating parks.
“These numbers are encouraging and tell us
that more people are taking advantage of this free week at our national Parks,” said Mketeni.
The
annual SA National Parks Week has been made possible with support from First
National Bank (FNB) and Total South Africa. “Without our sponsors this week
would not have materialised and South Africans would not be able to visit our
parks free of charge,” said Mketeni.
SANParks
thanks all South Africans who took part in this week, especially educators and
school groups. “The survival of the South African national parks system and our
natural and cultural heritage lies in the people of South Africa and we are
focused on involving young people and communities, to cultivate knowledge of
the importance of conservation and an appreciation for the country’s natural
heritage,” concludes Mketeni.
