Strategies to manage human activity in deserts 5

5. Richtersveld Transfrontier Park Part of this National Park is in Namibia and part in South Africa. On 1 August 2003 President Sam Nujoma of Namibia and President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa signed an international treaty establishing the |Ai-|Ais/Richtersveld Transfrontier Park in Windhoek, Namibia. Extensive community consultations were conducted beforehand, as the |Ai-|Ais/Richtersveld National Park in South Africa is owned by the |Ai-|Ais/Richtersveld community and managed on a contractual basis with South African National Parks (SANParks). This allows the full participation of the local community through elected members representing the four towns in the area, Kuboes, Sanddrift, Lekkersing and Eksteenfontein, and also of local pastoralists. These communities would all benefit from increased tourism to the area, while at the same time conserving its unique biodiversity. In addition, a transfrontier park would help maintain the cultural heritage and traditional lifestyle of the Nama people.

The |Ai-|Ais/Richtersveld Transfrontier Park measures km2 and spans some of the most spectacular arid and desert mountain scenery in southern Africa. It incorporates the km2 |Ai-|Ais Hot Springs Game Park in Namibia and the km2 |Ai-|Ais/Richtersveld National Park in South Africa. It features the world’s second largest canyon, the Fish River Canyon, which meanders for 161 km between the steep, spectacular cliffs that divide the Nama plateau. In places the canyon floor is more than 550 m below the plateau, exposing rock of up to million years old.

Major features Two major climatic regions meet within the transfrontier park, namely the warm temperate winter rainfall area, characteristic of the Succulent Karoo biome, and a non- seasonal rainfall region to the east, akin to the Nama-Karoo biome. The rainfall in the winter rainfall area (May - September) varies from 15 mm per annum in the valleys to 300 mm on the mountain tops. Chilly misty conditions are often caused by the Benguela anti-cyclone. In winter the temperature can drop to below 0°C, while in summer it can soar to 52°C, hence the appropriate name of the area: |Ai-|Ais, meaning “hot, very hot”. The |Ai-|Ais/Richtersveld Transfrontier Park is a renowned geological classroom, featuring many distinct periods of geological history that span some million years. Complex, intensely folded, fractured and actively uplifted landmasses are now heavily eroded. The Orange River mouth is a Ramsar site, and the 350-million-year-old erosion- rich lower Orange River gorge abounds with history, folklore and grandeur.

The area is renowned for housing most of the richest succulent flora of the world. The Orange River is characterised by striking endangered riparian bush. At the Gariep Centre of Plant Endemism, with the transfrontier park at its core, at least species of plants, 560 of which are endemic or near-endemic, can be found. A soft but regular and therefore effective rainfall is mainly responsible for this abundance of plant life. Many of the endemic plants are limited to small areas, mostly on mountains where the rainfall is higher and habitat diversity is greatest. The best-known endemic plants are the stem succulents known as the “halfmens”, Pachypodium namaquanum, and the giant tree aloe, Aloe pillansii. The animal species found in the area are adapted to withstand the harsh, arid climate. Other species are concentrated in the denser vegetation bordering the Orange River, including 56 species of mammals and 194 bird species. Furthermore, a large variety of lizards (35 species) and snakes (16 species) are found in various microhabitats