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| The Plains Of Camdeboo |
Formed hundreds of millions of years ago, the Karoo of South Africa is one of the great natural wonders of the world. The Camdeboo National Park with its unique
landscape and incredible scenic
beauty is part of the Karoo.
A unique feature of the 19.405-hectare park is its location, practically
surrounding the historic Karoo town of Graaff Reinet in the Eastern Cape.
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| Camdeboo National Park In The Karoo |
At least 225 bird species have been recorded in the
park, with an interesting ecotonal mix including species typical of both
the Great Karoo and Eastern region avifaunas.
The ostrich is perhaps the most well-known example of a bird adapted to life on the plains – it can cover up to 32km per day.
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| Ostrich Freedom in Camdeboo |
The greater portion of the park is situated between 740 and 1480 meters
above sea level on the foothills of the Sneeuberg range, while a small
section of the low lying-plains is included.
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| Born Free |
The Camdeboo National Park was proclaimed as South Africa's 22nd National
Park under the management of South African National Parks on Sunday 30th
October 2005.
Early history of the park includes use of the area by
early, middle and later stone age people. Evidence of occupation by
these people can be found in the form of stone age industry sites on the
south eastern plains of the park.
Artefacts found in these sites
include bored stones, percussion-made hand axes, scrapers, blades and
grinding stones.
Khoisan hunters and herders left evidence of their
occupation during the late stone age in the form of rock paintings in
the eastern section of the park.
The Inqua tribe occupied the park area during the mid 1600's, grazing
their vast herds of cattle and fat-tailed sheep on the apron veld from
the Camdeboo River near Aberdeen, across the Sundays River to
Agter-Bruintjieshoogte near Somerset East.
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| Staying Free |
White farmers settled the Camdeboo Plains and
Sneeuberg in 1770, introducing merino sheep and angora goats, as well as
exotic plants. Over the years overgrazing and the effects of exotic
plants have resulted in soil erosion and an increase in woody species or
unpalatable plants.
Until the park was first proclaimed as a reserve in
1979, it was used as a town commonage with tenants grazing their
livestock and contributing to overgrazing and erosion of some areas.
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| The Wheel Of Ages |
Following an extensive process of negotiation and
discussion between government, conservation groups, and concerned
stakeholders, Marthinus van Schalkwyk, Minister of Environmental Affairs
and Tourism, announced the intention to proclaim South Africa's 22nd
National Park in the area surrounding Graaff-Reinet. This was made
possible by the World Wide Fund for Nature in South Africa (WWF-SA),
which donated the 14500 hectare Karoo Nature Reserve to be the
centrepiece of the project.
A public consultation process was followed to decide on the new name
for the park, culminating in the choice of Camdeboo National Park.
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| Long Shadows Travelling With Us |
The Karoo Nature reserve was established in 1979 when the International
Union for the Conservation of Nature and the World Wildlife Fund
recognised the urgency for conservation measures in the Karoo biome and
listed this action as a world conservation priority.
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| The Large Nqweba Dam |
The Nqweba Dam lies within the park and covers about 1000 hectares when
full. At some places, dolerites form jointed pillars – the best examples
of which are found in the Valley of Desolation where erosion of the
softer sedimentary beds has left dolerite pillars which rise to heights
of 90 – 120 meters.
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| Nqweba Dam in Camdeboo National Park |
The vision for the future is ultimately to link the Camdeboo National
Park with the Mountain Zebra National Park, protecting a huge diversity
of plant and animal species. This will assist in the conservation of the
endangered Cape Mountain Zebra. The idea is to create a single
mega-conservation area over 120km in length and including up to 520 000
hectares of land under conservation and this will be accomplished in the
main by public/private partnerships.
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| Karoo |
The people of the Karoo are lucky to live in such a place!
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| The Green In The Karoo |
