The South African National Park (SANParks) is once again opening its doors to South Africans for free at all its parks during SANParks Week.
The week-long annual campaign will run from Monday, 12 September until Friday, 16 September. Held under the theme, ‘Know Your National Parks’, the campaign will allow locals with valid identity documents an opportunity to spend a day at a national park of their choice free of charge. Young persons under the age of 16 will be allowed free access without proof of identity.
Free access to the parks will not include accommodation and any commercial activities such as guided safaris in vehicles or guided walks.
The campaign will be applicable to all the national parks managed by SANParks, with the exception of Boulders at Table Mountain National Park and Namaqua National Park.
Some of the parks will be extending the week to include the weekend. For individual park dates, please visit: https://www.sanparks.org/about/events/parks_week/.
SANParks Acting Head of Communications, William Mabasa, said the objective of SANParks Week is to cultivate a culture of pride in all South Africans in their relationship with the country’s natural, cultural and historical heritage.
“When people take pride in the national parks, they will start to understand the importance of conservation,” he said.
This year’s SA National Parks Week will include exhibitions around the country at various key national parks, which will represent the different geographical regions of SANParks. The expos will include cultural, conservation, nursery and tourism aspects from the community, rangers and various conservation entities in order to highlight the broader South African biodiversity landscape.
SANParks encourages all South Africans and especially educators and school groups to diarise these dates and plan a visit to a nearby national park.
The public can share their visits to national parks during SA National Parks Week using #SANationalParksWeek and tag @SANParks –Source: SAnews.gov.za
St Francis Chronicle 