South Africa gains a new national park: Grasslands Park protects 10,226 hectares of Eastern Cape highlands

Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment David Maynier formally declared the Grasslands National Park on 9 October — 18 properties in the Eastern Cape highlands between Nqanqarhu and Rhodes, covering 10,226 hectares. The park protects one of South Africa's least-protected biomes and part of the Eastern Cape Drakensberg Strategic Water Source Area, the watershed so many communities and farms depend on. It is the country's first national park created mainly through biodiversity stewardship: landowners keep their land and keep farming it, committing it to conservation agreements alongside SANParks, WWF South Africa and partners. Farming families stay; the grasslands get a future.