The Greater Addo Elephant National Park is a megapark in the making, and consists of the following parks: * Addo Elephant National Park *

Woody Cape Nature Reserve The Woody Cape Nature Reserve is a 25,000 hectare conservation area in Eastern Cape, South Africa. Mammals such as bushpig, bushbuck, Cape Grysbok, steenbok, common duiker, Vervet monkey, and large and small grey mongoose are represented in t ...

* Marine Protection Area ** Bird Island ** St Croix Island

Objectives

The park is intended to guarantee long term conservation of the regional biodiversity and to reduce threats to the biodiversity by effective and efficient management, and to promote a sustainable and inclusive eco-tourism industry in the region.

Funding

The

Global Environment Facility The Global Environment Facility (GEF) is a multilateral environmental fund that provides grants and blended finance for projects related to biodiversity, climate change, international waters, land degradation, persistent organic pollutants (PO ...

(GEF) funded a research process to determine the ideal choice of land for inclusion in the park. The land classes in the proposed area were identified in a conservation planning framework, and ecological processes. potential threats and vulnerability of each land class was considered, along with conservation targets for fauna populations.

Extent

The park extends between Woody Cape across the

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colches ...

area, the original elephant enclosure, the Nythani concession area, large parts of the Zuurberg mountain range to the

Darlington Dam Darlington Dam, also referred to as Lake Mentz. is a gravity type dam situated in the Sundays River, near Kirkwood, in Eastern Cape, South Africa. It was completed in 1922 and only filled by 1928, the delay a result of extensive drought. The ...

area and Kuzuko contractual area to the R400 road between

Jansenville Jansenville is a town in Sarah Baartman District Municipality in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. Town on the Sundays River, 87 km south of Graaff-Reinet. Laid out on the farm Vergenoegd in 1854, it was proclaimed in 1855 and bec ...

and Paterson.The final extent of the park is expected to cover about 240 000 hectares of land and 120 000 hectares of marine protected area. A long term goal is to consolidate the terrestrial part of the park by linking up sections with corridors to help manage the park in a state as close to natural as practicable.

Biomes

The expanded park includes parts of five of South Africa's nine

biome A biome () is a biogeographical unit consisting of a biological community that has formed in response to the physical environment in which they are found and a shared regional climate. Biomes may span more than one continent. Biome is a broader ...

s. These are Albany thickets,

fynbos Fynbos (; meaning fine plants) is a small belt of natural shrubland or heathland vegetation located in the Western Cape and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa. This area is predominantly coastal and mountainous, with a Mediterranean clim ...

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

Nama Karoo Nama Karoo is a xeric shrubland ecoregion located on the central plateau of South Africa and Namibia. It occupies most of the interior of the western half of South Africa and extends into the southern interior of Namibia. Climate The climate t ...

and the

Indian Ocean coastal belt The Indian Ocean coastal belt is one of the nine recognised biomes of South Africa. They are described in terms of their vegetation and climatic variations. Location and description The Indian Ocean coastal belt is a region of coastal dunes and c ...

Biodiversity

The park extends protection of the traditional

big five game In Africa, the Big Five game animals are the lion, leopard, black rhinoceros, African bush elephant, and African buffalo. They are examples of charismatic megafauna, featuring prominently in popular culture, and are among the most famous of ...

, the southern right whale and

great white shark The great white shark (''Carcharodon carcharias''), also known as the white shark, white pointer, or simply great white, is a species of large Lamniformes, mackerel shark which can be found in the coastal surface waters of all the major ocean ...

References

{{coord missing, South Africa Protected areas of the Eastern Cape