Anysberg Reserve blocks development
2012-11-21 11:45
Cape Town - A massive unspoiled nature reserve in the Karoo will not be subject to development despite a tourist influx, the manager has asserted.
The Anysberg Nature Reserve outside Laingsburg in the Karoo comprises 65 000ha, and despite more tourists visiting the isolated area, no further development is scheduled on the property.
"We said one more unit and that unit will be right in the front as you come in this gate," Anysberg conservation manager Marius Brand told News24.
The reserve has five cottages for hire that sleeps 21 people and camp sites on the property. More development though, would impact the water resources available in the arid area.
"Definitely, there'll be no more development and growing the camp sites or bush camps because we don't have enough water to do all these things," Brand said.
Wilderness
The CapeNature property has a core group of regular visitors who desire the isolated nature of the environment and engage in outdoor activities such as birding or hiking.
Despite an increasing number of visitors who have discovered the reserve, unchecked development could risk the pristine nature of the wilderness.
Fauna include the endangered Cape mountain zebra, as well as steenbok, duiker, gemsbok and red hartebeest, while plants such as Karoo succulents and protea are also found in the area.
Earlier this year, the reserve established stargazing as an activity where, because of the lack of light pollution such as would be the case from metropolitan areas, the stars appear clearer and more objects can be seen with the naked eye.
"We don't want to take this away, but doing the stargazing is something extra that people can do but I don't think it will [negatively] affect the experience they're going to have," Brand said.
The cottages are powered by gas for cooking and they also make use of solar power for lights.
There is also an archaeological history that is present on the reserve with bushman paintings depicting scenes from the past and ruins dating from the late 1700s.
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