The Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Ms Barbara Creecy, will be conducting site visits at the Hluhluwe Imfolozi Park (HIP) and Isimangaliso Wetlands Park in Northern KwaZulu-Natal on 9-10 March 2023.

The Minister, together with the KZN MEC for Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs, Mr Sboniso Duma, will inspect parts of HIP in respect to boundary fence to keep wild animals from escaping the park into the nearby communities. Creecy and Duma will also visit the Park’s Rhino Poaching Nerve Centre. Last month, the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) released the annual rhino poaching statistics which revealed increased poaching activity in KwaZulu-Natal with half of the 448 rhino poached in the past year being from KZN.

Minister Creecy will then head to St Lucia to visit the community farms in the Isimangaliso area which have been affected by recent flooding, look at several community projects and receive and engage with stakeholders around an array of issues within the Wetlands Park.

Minister Creecy will host a media briefing at the conclusion of the site visits and stakeholder engagements.

Source: Government of South Africa