South Africa Declares New Grasslands National Park in Eastern Cape
South Africa's Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, David Maynier, has formally declared the Grasslands National Park in the Eastern Cape, covering 10,225 hectares across 18 properties in the highlands between Nqanqarhu and Rhodes. Published in Government Gazette No. 55531, the declaration marks the conclusion of a statutory process under the National Environmental Management: Protected Areas Act, 2003, and transitions the area from a proposed protected environment to a formally declared national park under SANParks management.
The park is the first in South Africa to be established primarily through a biodiversity stewardship model, under which landowners retain ownership of their land while committing to agreed conservation and management arrangements - allowing compatible agricultural activities to continue alongside ecological protection. The park aims to safeguard one of South Africa's least-protected biomes and forms part of the Eastern Cape Drakensberg Strategic Water Source Area, a landscape critical to water security and regional biodiversity. WWF South Africa partnered with the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment and SANParks in coordinating the park's establishment.
Source: South African National Parks
