Richtersveld Transfrontier Park
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Richtersveld is a
desert A desert is a landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions create unique biomes and ecosystems. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About one-third of the la ...
landscape characterised by rugged kloofs and high mountains, situated in the north-western corner of
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 ...
’s
Northern Cape The Northern Cape ( ; ; ) is the largest and most sparsely populated Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa. It was created in 1994 when the Cape Province was split up. Its capital is Kimberley, South Africa, Kimberley. It includes ...
province. It is full of changing scenery from flat, sandy, coastal plains, to craggy sharp mountains of volcanic rock and the lushness of the
Orange River The Orange River (from Afrikaans/Dutch language, Dutch: ''Oranjerivier'') is a river in Southern Africa. It is the longest river in South Africa. With a total length of , the Orange River Basin extends from Lesotho into South Africa and Namibi ...
, which forms the border with neighboring
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 ...
. The area ranges in altitude from sea level, to at Cornellberg. Located in the north-western side of the
Northern Cape The Northern Cape ( ; ; ) is the largest and most sparsely populated Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa. It was created in 1994 when the Cape Province was split up. Its capital is Kimberley, South Africa, Kimberley. It includes ...
province in South Africa, the Richtersveld is regarded as the only arid biodiversity hotspot on earth and the majority of the area is inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List due to its cultural values. The Nama people of Richtersveld claimed title to their traditional land and set aside this conservancy for future research and tourism. The northern part of the area was proclaimed in 1991 after 18 years of negotiations between the National Parks Board and the local Nama people who continue to live and graze their livestock in the area. It has an area of . This is a space for Nama people who live what is known as a transhumant lifestyle – where they migrate seasonally with their livestock and make use of a fragile succulent ecosystem. The community conservancy is bordered to the north by the Richtersveld National Park (managed by the Richtersveld community and the South African National Parks) the Nababiep Provincial Nature Reserve and designated community grazing areas that allow the Nama people to continue with their lifestyle.


Richtersveld National Park

Richtersveld National Park is the South-African part of the ǀAi-ǀAis/Richtersveld Transfrontier Park.


World Heritage Site

In June 2007, the "Richtersveld Cultural and Botanical Landscape", just to the south of the National Park and an area of equivalent size and beauty, was named a
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 ...
. Unlike the National Park, the Richtersveld Community Conservancy, which forms the core zone of the World Heritage Site, is not subject to diamond mining and is as a result the more pristine of the two areas.


Climate

The Richtersveld is characterized by harsh summer temperatures which have been recorded to reach approximately in mid-summer. Nights are cool and bring with them heavy dew. With water being scarce, life in the Richtersveld depends on moisture from the early morning fog. Locals call it 'Ihuries' or 'Malmokkies' and it makes survival possible for a range of small reptiles, birds and mammals. Temperatures drop between April and May to more temperate levels, however, through June - August the nights grow much colder. Strong gale-force winds often pick up in the winter and these cause sandstorms. The wind is often cold due to the influence from the Atlantic Ocean in the west. The Richtersfeld is a transitional zone between the coastal
Succulent Karoo The Succulent Karoo is an terrestrial ecoregion, ecoregion defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature to include regions of deserts and xeric shrublands, desert in South Africa and Namibia, and a biodiversity hotspot. The geographic area chosen ...
ecoregion in the west, and the drier
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 o ...
to the east. Rainfall in the Richtersveld varies from 5 mm per annum in the east to 200 mm per annum in the west. The western mountainous region receives mainly winter rainfall as well as life-giving mists from the ocean. The eastern area along the Orange River is drier and the rain more often arrives in summer, often as large thunderstorms. By late August through to early October spring arrives with a vast floral blooming of daisy species (''
Osteospermum ''Osteospermum'' , is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the Calenduleae, one of the smaller tribes of the sunflower/daisy family Asteraceae. They are known as the daisybushes or African daisies. Its species have been given several common ...
'') and "vygies" ('' Lampranthus''), namely in
Namaqualand Namaqualand ( Khoikhoi: "Nama-kwa" meaning Nama Khoi people's land) is an arid region of Namibia and South Africa, extending along the west coast over and covering a total area of . It is divided by the lower course of the Orange River int ...
.


Wildlife

The Richtersveld offers habitats for a diverse range of
mammal A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three ...
,
reptile Reptiles, as commonly defined, are a group of tetrapods with an ectothermic metabolism and Amniotic egg, amniotic development. Living traditional reptiles comprise four Order (biology), orders: Testudines, Crocodilia, Squamata, and Rhynchocepha ...
, and
bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...
species. These include the Grey rhebok,
Duiker A duiker is a small to medium-sized brown antelope native to sub-Saharan Africa, found in heavily wooded areas. The 22 extant species, including three sometimes considered to be subspecies of the other species, form the subfamily Cephalophinae ...
,
Steenbok The steenbok (''Raphicerus campestris'') is a common small antelope of southern and eastern Africa. It is sometimes known as the steinbuck or steinbok. Description Steenbok resemble small oribi, standing 45–60 cm (16"–24") at the ...
, Klipspringer, Hartmann's mountain zebra,
Chacma baboon The chacma baboon (''Papio ursinus''), also known as the Cape baboon, is, like all other baboons, from the Old World monkey family. It is one of the largest of all monkeys. Located primarily in southern Africa, the chacma baboon has a wide vari ...
,
Vervet monkey The vervet monkey (''Chlorocebus pygerythrus''), or simply vervet, is an Old World monkey of the family Cercopithecidae native to Africa. The term "vervet" is also used to refer to all the members of the genus '' Chlorocebus''. The five distin ...
,
Caracal The caracal (''Caracal caracal'') () is a medium-sized Felidae, wild cat native to Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, and arid areas of Pakistan and northwestern India. It is characterised by a robust build, long legs, a short face, long ...
and the
African leopard The African leopard (''Panthera pardus pardus'') is the nominate subspecies of the leopard, native to many countries in Africa. It is widely distributed in most of sub-Saharan Africa, but the historical range has been Habitat fragmentation, fragm ...
. Reptiles include snakes such as the Puff adder, Black Spitting Cobra, and the Nama Tiger Snake, and
lizards Lizard is the common name used for all squamate reptiles other than snakes (and to a lesser extent amphisbaenians), encompassing over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The ...
which mainly comprise species of Agama. Species of weaver birds, doves, and
Guineafowl Guinea fowl () (or guineahen) are birds of the family Numididae in the order Galliformes. They are endemic to Africa and rank among the oldest of the gallinaceous birds. Phylogenetically, they branched off from the core Galliformes after the C ...
are often found inland, although bird species become more diverse during the rainier winter season. The threatened Richtersveld katydid (''Africariola longicauda'') is endemic to the area. In addition there are several species of spiders and
scorpions Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the Order (biology), order Scorpiones. They have eight legs and are easily recognized by a pair of Chela (organ), grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward cur ...
.


Plant life

Approximately 4,849 plant species, 40 percent of which are
endemic 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 ...
, have been documented in the Richtersveld and comprise mainly
succulent In botany, succulent plants, also known as succulents, are plants with parts that are thickened, fleshy, and engorged, usually to retain water in arid climates or soil conditions. The word ''succulent'' comes from the Latin word ''sucus'', meani ...
and
aloe ''Aloe'' (; also written ''Aloë'') is a genus containing over 650 species of flowering plant, flowering succulent plant, succulent plants.WFO (2022): Aloe L. Published on the Internet;http://www.worldfloraonline.org/taxon/wfo-4000001341. Acc ...
species. The area is home to a number of rather unusual plants, many of which are found nowhere else on earth. Chief among these is the "Halfmensboom"''( Pachypodium namaquanum'' Welw.) meaning "half-person tree" , the name comes from the plant's resemblance to the human form. These trees are revered by the indigenous Nama people as the embodiment of their ancestors, half human, half plant, mourning for their ancient Namibian home. Also found here are three endemic species of the tree aloe '' Aloidendron: A. dichotomum'', '' A. pillansii'' and '' A. ramosissimum,'' often referred to as "kokerbooms" or "quiver trees".


Culture

The area is inhabited by Nama and other peoples. The local community, which owns the entire area, manages the National Park in conjunction with South African National Parks and is entirely responsible for management of the World Heritage Site. Both areas are used by traditional nomadic/transhumance herders to practice their ancient lifestyle and culture. It is the last place where the traditional way of life of the
Khoikhoi Khoikhoi (Help:IPA/English, /ˈkɔɪkɔɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''KOY-koy'') (or Khoekhoe in Namibian orthography) are the traditionally Nomad, nomadic pastoralist Indigenous peoples, indigenous population of South Africa. They ...
(of whom the Nama are the largest surviving clan) who once occupied the entire south-western part of Africa, survives to any great extent. The
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 ...
is declared under the cultural criteria of the World Heritage Convention although it is recognised that the cultural values of the community and their continued existence are intrinsically connected to the environment.


See also

* South African National Parks


References


External links


Richtersveld National Park and the Orange RiverAi-, Ais/Richtersveld Transfrontier National ParkThe Richtersveld Community Conservancy, core of the World Heritage SiteA mini travel portal for those considering to visit the RichtersveldThe Richtersveld Municipality website
{{authority control National parks of South Africa Deserts of South Africa World Heritage Sites in South Africa Protected areas of the Northern Cape