18 agricultural farms in the Eastern Cape highlands have been declared as a Grasslands National Park by the South Africa Ministry of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment. The new Grasslands National Park covers a total of 10 225.9242 hectares located in the Eastern Cape highlands between Nqanqarhu and Rhodes.
According to the Ministry, through this new Grassland National Park they are focusing on conserving the strategic water resources and biodiversity in the Eastern Cape. The official announcement of the initiative was published in Government Gazette No. 55531 under Government No, 8002.
Under this project the Ministry will protect under represented grassland ecosystems including the Eastern Cape Drakensberg Strategic Water Source Area. The ministry further shared that the main reason for choosing Eastern Cape Highlands was for water security, biodiversity and the livelihoods of people in the region.
David Maynier, Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, assigned the management work of new Grassland National Park to the South African National Park (SANParks) under the section 38 (1) (aA) of the National Environmental Management: Protected Areas Act, 2003.
Additionally, Minister Maynier further mentioned that the announcement of the new Grassland National Park was an important initiative to protect South Africa’s least protected biomes and water source landscape. He stated that the success of the project depends upon the collaboration and understanding between landowners and organisation workers.
The new Grassland National Park will be managed and established in collaboration by the three leading bodies of South Africa including, Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, SANParks, and WWF South Africa. Dr Morné du Plessis, CEO of WWF South Africa, shared that they have an ambition of converting the park’s into a mega living landscape in the upcoming next decade in the order of hundreds of hectares.
He further extended gratitude to the landowners who were ready to work in collaboration with the organization. Notably, the announcement of the new Grassland National Park was made on October 9, 2026 by David Maynier, Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment