Public–Private Partnerships in South African National Parks: The Rationale, Benefits and Lessons Learned - Responsible Tourism: Critical Issues for Conservation and Development - page 49

Articulation of SANParks' commercialization
policy, objectives and strategy
The motivation for commercialization
The IUCN states that:
Global conventions and programmes alone are not enough to ensure the
continued existence of, and sufficient funding for, protected areas. In times
of fiscal austerity and tightening government budgets - especially in
developing countries which are home to much of the world's biodiversity -
traditional funding sources are increasingly under threat. Innovative
alternatives to these traditional sources are needed in order to secure the
long-term viability of protected areas.
(Vorhies, 1998, p6)
In order to encourage greater efficiency in the delivery of public services, in April
1997 the Cabinet approved the establishment of an interdepartmental task team
chaired by the Department of Finance, to explore how PPPs could improve infra-
structure and service delivery efficiency, and make more efficient use of
under-utilized state assets. The key objective of this programme was to develop a
package of cross-sectoral and inter-institutional policies and legislative and
regulatory reform.
In September 1998, the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism
articulated the need for SANParks to prepare for less dependence on state
funding, which would increasingly be aimed at funding the essential conservation
requirements. This formed the basis of the Commercialization Strategy adopted
by SANParks in 2000, with its foundation in the economic theory which defines
the State's responsibility as one of performing a regulatory function and interven-
ing in the marketplace only where there is market failure. The objective was to
reduce the dependence on state funding and improve existing operational
efficiencies. This does not imply that SANParks has to be independent of the
State but rather that the collective funding sources (i.e. state funding, private
donations, NGO and international donations, SANParks' tourism activities and
commercialization) must be able to 'sustain' the total business of SANParks.
Sustainable tourism development depends on a partnership and a balance
between the social, technological, economic, environmental and political values
and benefits. Hence, should one source of funding be threatened, SANParks must
be able to absorb such withdrawal without compromising its sustainability.
The implementation of the Commercialization Strategy 2000 resulted in the
awarding of eleven concession sites to private operators, seven of which are in
Kruger National Park, two in Addo Elephant National Park, and two in Table
Mountain National Park. A typical concession entails allowing private operators
to build and operate tourism facilities within the National Parks, on the basis of a
20-year concession contract. Investors either took over and upgraded specified