Plans are under way to upgrade a number of provincial nature reserves and game parks to try to make them more accessible to local visitors.
Eastern Cape Parks Board (ECPB) acting chief executive Siyolo Jafta said last night that the board intended to upgrade accommodation and infrastructure and to outsource the running of the hospitality areas to professionals.
"We intend to continue running the reserves and ensuring conservation and leave the operation of the accommodation sections of the camps to professionals."
The board has identified some of the province's reserves as "flagship operations" and would seek grading from the Tourism Grading Council for them.
"We are looking at a grading of between three and four stars for the major reserves but still mean to keep them affordable to domestic visitors particularly people living in the Eastern Cape.
"The facilities at Mpofu in the Katberg area and Tsolwana near Queenstown have already been graded and both achieved three-star status," Jafta said.
Among the projects on the cards are upgrades to accommodation at Silaka near Port St Johns, Hluleka near Coffee Bay, Double Drift near Alice and Pondoland's Mkambati reserve.
The national Department of Environment Affairs and Tourism (Deat) has allocated R15 million for upgrading the Hluleka reserve of which R13m will be spent on facilities and infrastructure and R2m for an upgrade of the campsite at Coffee Bay.
They would try to get Eskom to provide electricity at Hluleka and are also looking at a new sustainable water supply and water purification system.
The 12 rundown chalets in the reserve would be replaced and the facilities improved with a braai area and parking in front of each one. A central entertainment centre and restaurant were also planned.
The upgrading of chalets at Silaka has been completed and work is now commencing on the interiors with new furniture, fittings, appliances and crockery. "We are looking at constructing a bridge to connect visitors to the beach and have already appointed consultants to survey the area and put forward a preliminary design."
Work on the main lodge and the 12 six- and seven-sleeper chalets at Mkambati began in December and a consultant has been appointed to deal with the electrification of the water pumps and to improve the entrance to the reserve.
The board's showpiece reserve is going to be Double Drift where the accommodation has already been upgraded externally. Interior refurbishment will start soon.
"We want to make Double Drift a Big Five reserve so we will have to provide sophisticated fencing there as the reserve is fenced for tame game. We will also have to improve the internal roads and upgrade the water systems."
Another reserve that will require major re-fencing is Mpofu. Land between it and the Fort Fordyce reserve has been bought by the board so it will double in size.
The board met yesterday to discuss the approximately R40m funding from the United Nations Development Programme for conservation along the Wild Coast.
Jafta said it was not just Mkambati that would benefit but the proposed Pondo Park and other reserves in the region.
"The money was given to the ECPB and that is why we are asking for some sort of say in the control of the reserves in the area," Jafta said.
Daily Dispatch
Publisher: I-Net Bridge
Source: I-Net Bridge
