Funding stalls Mapungubwe project

FUNDING is affecting the construction of a museum in the Zimbabwean component of the Greater Mapungubwe Transfrontier Conservation Area (GMTFCA), it has emerged.

The GMTFCA is made up of parks in Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe.

The museum is part of repackaging initiatives in the Zimbabwean component and would be built at Sentinel Safaris.

Sentinel Safaris co-director, Mrs Vanessa Bristow, said the project would cost an estimated $50 000.

“Plans have been afoot to have such a facility to house a number of archaeological artefacts and information on various items and the history of people around the Greater Mapungubwe heritage,” she said.

“However, resource shortages have been the main challenge.

“We believe such a facility will boost our tourism product as a country.

“We have a rich history of mankind, middle stone age artefacts, wildlife history, dinosaur fossils and a great deal of other products, which can be well-documented and stored at the museum.

“Such a facility will benefit, the local community, local and international tourists to know more about our heritage.”

Mrs Bristow said the museum would be very useful for schoolchildren and other groups on educational trips.

She said there were further archaeological researches to be conducted in the area, whose findings will be kept at the proposed museum.

Mrs Bristow said they continued to discover more dinosaur sites around the area, which were still to be exploited and preserved.

“The Zimbabwean component is rich in a number of aspects, including wildlife heritage, the Limpopo River, human settlements, magnificent sandstone landscapes and camping sites, she said.

“Besides the museum, we need to continue developing historical sites and making them attractive and viewable.”

The GMTFCA was established in 2006 as part of Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe’s drive to promote economic development, regional integration and the growth of tourism.

The mega-park lies in the southern part of Zimbabwe at the confluence of the Limpopo and Shashe rivers which demarcates the borders with South Africa and Botswana respectively.

Further, the transfrontier park is part of regional efforts to increase the traffic of tourism by consolidating marketing, infrastructure development and investment promotion in the conservation areas.

South Africa’s area covers 53 percent of the GMTFCA with Mapungubwe National Park (under South Africa national parks services), Venetia Limpopo Natural Reserve, Mapesu Game Reserve, Mogalakwena Game reserve and Vhembe Game Reserves.

On the other hand, Botswana offers 28 percent of the GMTFCA covering mainly the Northern Tuli Game reserve, while Zimbabwe covers 19 percent with Sentinel Ranch, Nottingham Estate, Tuli Circle, Maramani and Machuchuta Communal Lands and Nhwali Wildlife Management Areas.