The Maloti-Drakensberg Park is a

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

, established on 11 June 2001 by linking the Sehlabathebe National Park in the Kingdom of

Lesotho Lesotho, formally the Kingdom of Lesotho and formerly known as Basutoland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Entirely surrounded by South Africa, it is the largest of only three sovereign enclave and exclave, enclaves in the world, t ...

and the uKhahlamba Drakensberg Park in

KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN) is a Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the government merged the Zulu people, Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu language, Zulu) and ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. The highest peak is Thaba Ntlenyana rising to 3,482 metres. Proposed extensions to the main park include the

Golden Gate Highlands National Park Golden Gate Highlands National Park is located in Free State (South African province), Free State, South Africa, near the Lesotho border. It covers an area of . The park's most notable features are its golden, ochre, and orange-hued, deeply eros ...

, Sterkfontein Dam Nature Reserve ( Free State) and Royal Natal National Park (

) in South Africa; and the Bokong Nature Reserve and Ts'ehlanyane National Park in Lesotho. The park is situated in the

Drakensberg The Drakensberg (Zulu language, Zulu: uKhahlamba, Sotho language, Sotho: Maloti, Afrikaans: Drakensberge) is the eastern portion of the Great Escarpment, Southern Africa, Great Escarpment, which encloses the central South Africa#Geography, Sout ...

Mountains which form the highest areas in the sub-region, and support unique montane and sub-alpine

ecosystems An ecosystem (or ecological system) is a system formed by Organism, organisms in interaction with their Biophysical environment, environment. The Biotic material, biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and en ...

. These ecosystems hold a globally significant plant and animal

biodiversity Biodiversity is the variability of life, life on Earth. It can be measured on various levels. There is for example genetic variability, species diversity, ecosystem diversity and Phylogenetics, phylogenetic diversity. Diversity is not distribut ...

, with unique

habitats In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

and high levels of

endemism Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

. The park is also home to the greatest gallery of

rock art In archaeology, rock arts are human-made markings placed on natural surfaces, typically vertical stone surfaces. A high proportion of surviving historic and prehistoric rock art is found in caves or partly enclosed rock shelters; this type al ...

in the world with hundreds of sites and many thousands of images painted by the Bushmen (

San people The San peoples (also Saan), or Bushmen, are the members of any of the indigenous hunter-gatherer cultures of southern Africa, and the oldest surviving cultures of the region. They are thought to have diverged from other humans 100,000 to 200 ...

). The Maloti-Drakensberg Transfrontier Conservation and Development Area was conceived as a

Peace park A transboundary protected area (TBPA) is an ecological protected area that spans boundaries of more than one country or sub-national entity. Such areas are also known as transfrontier conservation areas (TFCAs) or peace parks. TBPAs exist in ma ...

, covering about 8 113 km², consisting of 5 170 km² (64%) in Lesotho and 2 943 km² (36%) in KwaZulu-Natal.

Gallery

File:Maloti-Drakensberg Park-113961.jpg, View of mountains in the evening

References

External links

KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government homepage

Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife (previous known as Natal Parks Board)

Peace Parks

Maloti-Drakensberg Transfrontier Conservation Area Website

Maloti Drakensberg Transfrontier Challenge Adventure Race
{{World Heritage Sites in South Africa Peace parks Protected areas of Lesotho Protected areas of South Africa Protected areas established in 2001 2001 establishments in South Africa World Heritage Sites in Lesotho World Heritage Sites in South Africa

Gallery

See also

References

External links