South African National Parks

South African National Parks

SANParks
Logo of South African National Parks
Agency overview
Formed	1926
Jurisdiction	Government of South Africa
Headquarters	643 Leyds Street, Muckleneuk, Pretoria
Employees	3,367
Annual budget	R985,804,000
Minister responsible	Edna Molewa, Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs
Agency executives	Kuseni Dlamini, Chairperson of the Board Mr Fundisile Mketeni, CEO
Parent agency	Department of Environmental Affairs
Key documents	National Parks Act, 1976 National Environmental Management: Protected Areas Act, 2003
Website	www.sanparks.org

South African National Parks (SANParks) is the body responsible for managing South Africa's national parks. SANParks was formed in 1926, and currently manages 22 parks consisting of over 3,700,000 hectares (37,000 km²), about 4% of the total area of South Africa.

The best known park is Kruger National Park, which is also the oldest (proclaimed in 1898), and the largest, at nearly 2,000,000 hectares (20,000 km²). The Kruger Park and Table Mountain National Park are two of South Africa's most visited tourist attractions.

List of parks administered by SANParks

The following are designated as National Parks of South Africa:

Name	Photo	Location	Date established	Area
Addo Elephant National Park		Eastern Cape	1931	1,640 km2 (630 sq mi)
Agulhas National Park		Western Cape	14 September 1998	20,959 hectares (51,790 acres)
Ai-Ais/Richtersveld Transfrontier Park		Northern Cape	2003	6,045 km2 (2,334 sq mi)
Augrabies Falls National Park		Northern Cape	1966	820 km2 (320 sq mi)
Bontebok National Park	160px	Western Cape	1931	27.86 km2 (10.76 sq mi)
Camdeboo National Park		Eastern Cape	1979 (Karoo Nature Reserve) 30 October 2005 (Camdeboo National Park)	194.05 km2 (74.92 sq mi)
Garden Route National Park		Western Cape	6 March 2009m (amalgamation of Tsitsikamma, Wilderness and Knysna National Lake Area	1,210 km2 (470 sq mi)
Golden Gate Highlands National Park		Free State	1963	340 km2 (130 sq mi)
Karoo National Park		Western Cape	1979	767.9 km2 (296.5 sq mi)
Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park	160px	Northern Cape	31 July 1931 (Kalahari Gemsbok National Park) 12 May 2000 (Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park)	38,000 km2 (15,000 sq mi)
Kruger National Park		Limpopo and Mpumalanga	31 May 1926	19,485 km2 (7,523 sq mi)
Mapungubwe National Park		Limpopo	1995	280 square kilometres (110 sq mi)
Marakele National Park		Limpopo	1994	670 km2 (260 sq mi)
Mokala National Park		Northern Cape	19 June 2007	196.11 km2 (75.72 sq mi)
Mountain Zebra National Park		Eastern Cape	1937	284 km2 (110 sq mi)
Namaqua National Park		Northern Cape	1999	700 km2 (270 sq mi)
Table Mountain National Park		Western Cape	19 May 1998	221 km2 (85 sq mi)
Tankwa Karoo National Park		Northern Cape	19 May 1986	1,436 km2 (554 sq mi)
West Coast National Park	160px	Western Cape	1985	27,500 hectares (106 sq mi)

Location of national parks

Addo

Agulhas

Augrabies

Bontebok

Camdeboo

Garden Route

Golden Gate

Karoo

Kgalagadi

Kruger

Mapungubwe

Marakele

Mokala

Mountain Zebra

Namaqua

Table Mountain

Tankwa Karoo

West Coast

Ai-Ais/Richtersveld

South African National Parks

See also

• Protected areas of South Africa
• Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife - The body responsible for maintaining wilderness areas and public nature reserves in KwaZulu-Natal
• Eastern Cape Parks - The body responsible for maintaining wilderness areas and public nature reserves in the Eastern Cape
• Gauteng Department of Agriculture, Conservation, Environment and Land Affairs - The government department responsible for maintaining wilderness areas and public nature reserves in Gauteng.
• Mpumalanga Parks Board - The body responsible for maintaining wilderness areas and public nature reserves in Mpumalanga
• North West Parks and Tourism Board - The body responsible for maintaining wilderness areas and public nature reserves in the North West
• CapeNature - The body responsible for maintaining wilderness areas and public nature reserves in the Western Cape

External links

• South African National Parks
• Interview with Head, Business Development, South African National Parks