HOSPITALITY
HOSPITALITY
PROPERTY PROFILE
SOUTH AFRICA - EASTERN CAPE
LALIBELA
GAME
RESERVE
A New Era for
Private Sector
Conservation in
Eastern Cape:
GPS: 33° 28’ 14.081’’ S / 26° 15’ 8.733’’ E
By Vernon Wait
Lalibela Game Reserve Sold
The recent sale of Lalibela Game Reserve, together with substantial
parcels of land adjacent to Lalibela, is seen as a major vote of confidence
in South Africa’s Eastern Cape game lodge industry as a whole.
Land Acquisition
Not only is the malaria-free “Big-5 area” of Lalibela increasing in size, but
the acquisition of an additional 2,000 hectares adjacent to the existing
Big-5 area, means that Lalibela now has a pristine wilderness range that
will be used as a breeding area, and to reintroduce endemic game species
to the Eastern Cape, thus ensuring long term sustainability of game
numbers.
Regarding Lalibela’s flora and fauna, a huge amount of the initial effort
and resources are being allocated to eradicate alien vegetation. With
the addition of more land, there is a need to get game numbers up to
equilibrium in terms of an ideal carrying capacity. To this end, various
species of game are being acquired and these are being introduced both
in the “Big-5 area” as well as in the new breeding area.
Responsible Tourism
For the conservation of habitat and wildlife to be successful over the long
term, there has to be “buy-in” from local, rural communities – Africa has
a long list of successful examples of this. A strong ethos at Lalibela is that
the mere creation of rural jobs does not constitute rural upliftment. Going
forward, Lalibela will play an active role in the meaningful upliftment of
the rural communities near Lalibela.
26 Tourism Tattler Trade Journal AUGUST 2016
▼
The new owners of Lalibela are avid conservationists who acquired
Lalibela because of their two passions – the preservation of African flora
and fauna and the upliftment of rural communities, specifically children in
rural communities.
AUGUST 2016 Tourism Tattler Trade Journal 27