Context

The Maputaland Region of northern KwaZulu-Natal contains one of the three major regional centers of plant diversity and endemism in South Africa. It embraces the Greater St Lucia Wetland Park, the country's first UNESCO World Heritage Site, inscribed in 1999 for its unique natural features of global significance. It also embraces the proposed Lubombo Trans-Frontier Conservation Area (TFCA), a vast transnational wilderness concept, which straddles northern KZN, Swaziland and Mozambique.

By contrast, years of forced removals and economic marginalisation have rendered communities living within, and on the peripheries of protected areas amongst the most impoverished in the country.

The World Heritage and proposed TFCA status has increased the economic potential of the two regions dramatically, and it has become necessary for the Wildlife Services and local authorities to seek models for sustainable conservation, which embrace not only the preservation of its plant and animal resources, but significantly draw on people, culture and local knowledge.

| : MCP | BrilliantWeb



Context click for larger image The Maputaland Region of northern KwaZulu-Natal contains one of the three major regional centers of plant diversity and endemism in South Africa. It embraces the Greater St Lucia Wetland Park, the country's first UNESCO World Heritage Site, inscribed in 1999 for its unique natural features of global significance. It also embraces the proposed Lubombo Trans-Frontier Conservation Area (TFCA), a vast transnational wilderness concept, which straddles northern KZN, Swaziland and Mozambique. By contrast, years of forced removals and economic marginalisation have rendered communities living within, and on the peripheries of protected areas amongst the most impoverished in the country. The World Heritage and proposed TFCA status has increased the economic potential of the two regions dramatically, and it has become necessary for the Wildlife Services and local authorities to seek models for sustainable conservation, which embrace not only the preservation of its plant and animal resources, but significantly draw on people, culture and local knowledge.	The Greater St Lucia Wetland Park, the country's first UNESCO World Heritage Site The World Heritage and proposed TFCA status has increased the economic potential of the two regions dramatically
\| : MCP \| BrilliantWeb