The Garden Route National Park is a bit of a monkey puzzle of a park, because it consists of lots of little chunks of land along the stretch of coastline most in need of protection.
A large part of the problem is that human developments along the Garden Route, the very things from which nature has to be protected, have had to be incorporated into this new Garden Route National Park. The main areas falling within this multiple-use park are Wilderness Lakes, Knysna Lagoon and Knysna and Tsitsikamma forest, as well as Storms River and Nature’s Valley. South African National Parks hopes to eventually control all land usage on the Garden Route, and all strength to them, because the “garden“ has already been far to badly wrecked and ruined.
Activities and Conservation
There is a variety of fun and adventurous activities available at the Garden Route National Park ranging from hiking trails, nature walks and much more. Outdoor activities include: hiking and nature walks, forest excursions, birding, mountain biking, water activities and the popular Otter Trail.
There is also bountiful birding spots, as well as mountain biking routes. SANParks has devoted time and resources to ensure that the Garden Route National Park "GRNP" became a conservation area in 2009, so it could be protected from further destruction. As the Garden Route is one of the country’s crown jewels in terms of biodiversity and its attraction of both foreign and local tourists, it was of utmost importance to conserve the area.
The formation of the park allowed the facilitation and the regional implementation of important programmes like fire management and alien clearing.
By David Bristow