S. African national parks adapt to changing climate

South Africa is rebuilding infrastructure, bracing for potentially extreme El Nino conditions later this year, after floods caused extensive damage to national parks in January.

David Maynier, minister of forestry, fisheries and the environment, said flooding caused about $56 million in damage at Kruger National Park, the country's largest game reserve. Roads, bridges, water purification plants and houses were among the infrastructure damaged.

Some culverts have been rebuilt with climate-resilient materials, while bridges and chalets at Kruger's Letaba Rest Camp have been repaired, Maynier said. Another 64 rooms are being renovated and are expected to be completed by November, ahead of the peak tourist season.

"Public infrastructure is becoming vulnerable to extreme weather events," Maynier said. "Recovery cannot simply mean replacing what was lost. Recovery requires better planning, more resilient design and strategic investment in infrastructure that will last for years and withstand future extreme weather events."

The flooding cost the park about $4.5 million in revenue after heavy rains damaged visitor chalets and roads, restricting access to parts of the park, Maynier said.

Jay Pee Louw, spokesman for South African National Parks, highlighted the rising prevalence of floods and other climate-related events.

Droughts have become more frequent, causing animal deaths in some national parks, while fires have ripped through Table Mountain National Park, and the Garden Route and Bontebok national parks have been hit by floods, he said. South African National Parks has increased spending on repairs, he added.

Flooding severely damaged chalets, picnic sites, roads and accommodation facilities in some parks, Louw said, adding that tourists and park employees had to be evacuated during floods earlier this year.

South African National Parks has spent millions of dollars this year refurbishing culverts, repairing accommodations and installing climate-resilient infrastructure at Kruger National Park, he said.

Below full capacity

In March, flooding forced all gates in the northern section of Kruger to close, though they have since reopened, Louw said. Bontebok National Park is still operating below full capacity as flood-damaged infrastructure is being rebuilt.

"Where infrastructure is damaged, we do not just replace it but provide climate-resilient infrastructure because we are seeing these extreme weather events on the upward trend and their severity," he said. "Some infrastructure at Kruger National Park is over 50 to 60 years old, so we are modernizing it."

Oscar Mthimkhulu, managing executive at Kruger National Park, said the floods affected the park's revenue and limited access to some areas. An infrastructure vulnerability assessment identified floods, heat, fires and droughts as key threats to the parks in the future, he said.

"When we build for the future, we consider those threats so that when floods come, the infrastructure will be able to withstand them," Mthimkhulu said. "Our infrastructure was built before climate change and global warming became an issue. Now that we are experiencing them, we have to adapt and build differently."

National parks play an important role in protecting South Africa's biodiversity and promoting tourism. South African National Parks manages 21 national parks across seven of the country's nine provinces.

The writer is a freelance journalist for China Daily.