South African National Park (SANParks) is again opening its doors for free from Monday, September 14 until Friday, September 18 as part of the annual South African National Parks Week.
This campaign under the established theme ‘Know Your National Parks’ will allow locals to spend a day at a national park of their choice free of charge.
The week-long campaign will be applicable to all the national parks managed by SANParks, with the exception of Boulders in Table Mountain National Park and Namaqua National Park in the Northern Cape.
Some of the parks will be extending the week to include the weekend, you can see each park’s dates here.
SANParks acting head of communications Reynold Thakhuli said the objective of the 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 start to take pride in the national parks, then we believe that they will start to understand the importance of conservation.”
The idea of a national parks focus week is a world-wide campaign and was conceived in in South Africa in 2006, after realising that a vast majority of South Africans were not accessing the national parks.
All of the parks will be hosting activities during the week which will be aimed at education.
“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,” said Thakhuli.
SANParks encourages all South Africans and especially educators and school groups to diarise these dates and plan a visit to a national park nearby.
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