The Sehlabathebe National Park is located in the

Maloti Mountains The Maloti Mountains are a mountain range of the highlands of the Kingdom of Lesotho. They extend for about 100 km into the South African Free State. The Maloti Range is part of the Drakensberg system that includes ranges across large area ...

in Qacha's Nek District,

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 is part of the Maloti-Drakensberg World Heritage Site. The park was first established on 8 May 1969 and since then, is recognised as important in terms of biological diversity and cultural heritage. The landscape is dominated by

grasslands A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge ( Cyperaceae) and rush ( Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes such as clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur ...

of various types. The larger ecosystem functions provide freshwater to

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 ...

, and

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

Location

Sehlabathebe National Park is situated in the south-east corner of Lesotho at an average elevation of some 2,400 metres above sea level.

Environment

Most of the park is taken up by a designated wilderness area, and is uninhabited. Much of it consists of cliffs, waterfalls, pools, rock dwellings and rock art. It is known for its scenery with unique rock formations. The Tsoelikane waterfall is the biggest waterfall in the park. A total of 65 rock art sites have been identified in the area, as well as other forms of the previous habitation of the site. The park contains habitats supporting a range of Afro-Alpine and Sub-Alpine plants, mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish. The site hosts 23 percent of the plant species in the whole Maluti Drakensberg area. Some of the park's species are endangered, including three vertebrates: the

Maluti redfin The Maluti redfin (''Pseudobarbus quathlambae'') is a ray-finned fish species in the family Cyprinidae. It is colloquially called the Maluti minnow, but it is not a true minnow. It is Lesotho's only endemic freshwater fish, and threatened by t ...

, a

critically endangered An IUCN Red List critically endangered (CR or sometimes CE) species is one that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. As of December 2023, of t ...

fish which is endemic to the park, the

Cape vulture The Cape vulture (''Gyps coprotheres''), also known as Cape griffon and Kolbe's vulture, is an Old World vulture in the family Accipitridae. It is endemic to southern Africa, and lives mainly in South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, and in some parts ...

and the

bearded vulture The bearded vulture (''Gypaetus barbatus''), also known as the lammergeier and ossifrage, is a very large bird of prey in the Monotypic taxon, monotypic genus ''Gypaetus''. The bearded vulture is the only known vertebrate whose diet consists of ...

. The Sehlabathebe water lily is an endangered aquatic plant.

Recognition

This site was added to the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

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 ...

Tentative List on October 8, 2008, in the Mixed (Cultural + Natural) category. Sehlabathebe is currently run under the Ministry of Tourism, Environment, and Culture jurisdiction. The park has also been recognised as an

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

(IBA) by

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding i ...

Notes

References

Sehlabathebe National Park - UNESCO World Heritage Centre
Retrieved 2009-03-02. *Ramutsindela, M. (2007), ''Transfrontier Conservation in Africa: At the Confluence of Capital, Politics, and Nature'', CABI.

External links