The Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA), in collaboration with the Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency, plans to implement some R256-million worth of environmental protection and infrastructure projects in Mpumalanga, bringing the department’s total funding commitment in the province to R345-million.

The People & Parks and the Wildlife Economy projects would be implemented through the DEA’s Environmental Protection and Infrastructure programme, which funded the implementation of various projects aimed at protecting the integrity of the environment. 

The programme had grown from a budget of R28-million in the 1999/2000 financial year to a current budget of just under R900-million.

The People & Parks programme was a DEA initiative that aimed to tackle issues at the interface between conservation and communities, particularly with regard to the realisation of tangible economic and social benefits by communities that were previously displaced to pave way for the establishment of protected areas. 

The programme encouraged communities to take leadership roles in the management and benefits of South Africa’s biodiversity conservation, particularly in the protected areas.

It also aimed to guide conservation agencies and successful land restitution claimants in the development of co-management agreements for protected areas.

Meanwhile, the Wildlife Economy programme fostered community participation to ensure the sustainability of local wildlife.

Communities and nature reserves in the province that stood to benefit directly from these projects were Andover; Loskop dam; Barberton; Mahushe Shongwe; Mawewe; Mdala-Mkhombo; Mthethomusha; Songimvelo; Nooitgedacht dam; Manyeleti and Bushbuckridge.

Speaking on behalf of Environmental Affairs Deputy Minister Barbara Thomson at the launch event in Acornhoek, in Mpumalanga, on Friday, MEC for Agriculture, Land Administration and Environmental Affairs Andries Gamede said the projects would not only provide some 2 200 work opportunities, but would also create the necessary infrastructure in the protected areas and encourage greener environmental management practices.

“The projects will lead to, among other things, construction and upgrading of accommodation units for staff and visitors, administration management buildings, ablution facilities, safari tented camps and erection of perimeter fence,” he commented.