South Africa has declared a new national park in the Eastern Cape highlands, placing more than 10 225 hectares of grassland under formal conservation protection in a move aimed at safeguarding biodiversity and a key regional water source.
This comes after the Grasslands National Park, announced by Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment David Maynier earlier today on Friday, 9 October, comprises 18 properties between Nqanqarhu and Rhodes.
The declaration was published in Government Gazette No. 55531 under Government Notice No. 8002, formally establishing the protected area following a statutory process that began with a notice of intention in 2025.
Protecting grasslands and a strategic water source
The park is intended to conserve South Africa’s under-represented grassland ecosystems, as well as part of the Eastern Cape Drakensberg Strategic Water Source Area.
These highland landscapes play an important role in water security and biodiversity, while also supporting livelihoods linked to the region’s working agricultural land.
Maynier highlighted that the declaration marked progress in protecting a biome that remains under-represented in the country’s conservation network.
‘The declaration of the Grasslands National Park is an important step in protecting one of South Africa’s least-protected biomes and a strategic water source landscape. It also demonstrates how conservation and compatible productive land use can reinforce one another through voluntary, long-term partnerships,’ he said.
The new park has been established primarily through biodiversity stewardship, an approach that enables participating landowners to retain ownership of their properties while committing to agreed conservation and management arrangements.
Agricultural activities that are compatible with conservation can continue under this model, allowing the protection of natural landscapes alongside land-based livelihoods.
According to the ministry, this approach provides a way to expand conservation areas through long-term partnerships rather than relying solely on conventional state-owned protected land.
Maynier said the Grasslands National Park was the first national park in South Africa established primarily through a biodiversity stewardship model.
‘This is the first national park established primarily through a biodiversity stewardship model. This initiative is an example of how inclusive partnerships can drive large-scale conservation success,’ he said.
The minister has assigned management of the Grasslands National Park to South African National Parks (SANParks), in terms of section 38(1)(aA) of the National Environmental Management: Protected Areas Act, 2003.
The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment and SANParks worked alongside WWF South Africa, which played a leading role in coordinating the park’s establishment with a wider group of partners.
The formal declaration moves the initiative from a proposed protected area to an established national park, creating a new conservation area in the Eastern Cape highlands.
Its long-term role will include protecting grassland biodiversity and a strategic water source landscape while allowing compatible agricultural activities to continue under agreed conservation arrangements.
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Picture: Supplied
Lulama Klassen
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