With September being Heritage Month as well as Tourism Month, South African National Parks (SANParks) is calling on South Africans to celebrate the country’s culture and heritage.
The body responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of South Africa’s natural heritage, our parks, announced that its 18th annual SA National Parks Week is September 16 to 24.
SA National Parks Week, in partnership with Total South Africa and FNB, allows South Africans to visit our numerous national parks at no cost.
According to SANParks, National Parks Week, under the theme “Know Your National Parks”, has seen an influx of over 691 418 day visitors in all participating parks since its inception in 2006.
SANParks chief executive Hapiloe Sello said that the idea of a national parks focus week is a world-wide campaign.
“The week was established in a bid to cultivate a sense of pride in South Africa’s natural, cultural and historical heritage, protected by the national parks system. It is also in line with the SANParks vision statement of ‘A Sustainable National Park System Connecting Society,” said Sello.
She said that SA National Parks Week has proved to be a successful campaign in terms of education and awareness of conservation issues.
“It’s important for South Africans to visit and know the importance of national parks. They act as spaces to practice sustainable conservation, as spaces that preserve and celebrate our culture and heritage, and we now see national parks playing the critical role of empowering communities living adjacent to parks through job creation and we continue to explore ways of creating business opportunities particularly for small business owners,” said Sello.
The CEO said the initiative aims to give the public an understanding of the role that SANParks plays as custodian of the country’s natural heritage and if they want to create a sense of ownership of the natural heritage of South Africa in all South Africans, then all South Africans must be able to have access to such.
“Visit a national park this year for free during SA National Parks Week, to see what it has to offer and do your part by getting to know your national parks, celebrate your rich heritage offering and experience first-hand the iconic beauty and plethora of natural flora and fauna,” said Sello.
SA National Parks Week grants free access to most of the 21 national parks for day visitors, especially people from the local communities.
It should be noted that free access to parks does not include free access to accommodation facilities and other tourist activities.
Some of the parks will be extending the week to include the two weekends. For individual park dates and participating parks please visit: http://www.sanparks.org/about/events/parks_week/default.php.