A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Johannesburg, 2015. / Decades of study devoted to solving the “elephant problem” have generally concurred that increasing elephant populations inevitably reduce biodiversity. However, recent evidence suggests that such reductions can be accompanied by increases in other components of biodiversity, and that ultimately elephant effects are scale-dependent. Although this new perspective now underpins elephant management strategies in savannas such as the Kruger National Park (KNP), South Africa, few empirical studies in support of this strategy have incorporated the contribution of spatial context, or allowed for the emergence of relevant scales, in their interpretations of heterogeneity. Moreover, use of traditional modes of scientific enquiry and statistical approaches for investigating heterogeneity in complex systems have been challenged. Recent advances in spatial statistics, together with an alternative mode of science that draws upon multiple lines of converging evidence rather than testing narrowlyfocused hypotheses, have the potential to address these challenges. However, their practical application for understanding elephants as agents of change remains lacking. Riparian zones along the ephemeral rivers in northern KNP provided an ideal landscape to explore the spatial and temporal parameters of elephant effects in response to surface water, as a critical resource, and hence to develop a framework for a heterogeneity approach for understanding and managing elephants as agents of change in savannas.

This document is submitted in partial fulfilment for the degree: Master of Architecture [Professional] At the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, in the year 2014 / “Architecture embodies humanity’s relationship with the earth” (Hoosey, L. 2012. Pg. 118) There are many threats facing South Africa’s wildlife including the spread of diseases, increased poaching and habitat loss. As a result the Kruger National Park is one of South Africa’s most prized treasures and has become a wildlife recreation, resource and research hub attracting tourists and researchers from around the globe. However, despite the number of visitors to the area, there is an increasing number of local communities specifically on the Southern border of the park, experiencing high levels of unemployment and poverty. As a result, community members are often involved in the harvesting and trade of natural resources through activities such as subsistence poaching and farming. These practices are gradually destroying the natural landscape on the periphery thus posing a significant threat to the park’s biodiversity. In a contest between resource consumption and resource conservation architecture has the opportunity to mediate between the user groups of the region, sparking conversation about conservation. This thesis seeks to provide a building complex which will become the interface between land users and land uses and in so doing become a catalyst in the rehabilitation of the natural landscape. It will provide a platform for an exchange of conservation-based resources, information and skills intended to enhance the experience and understanding of nature. The complex includes a seed bank facility to store and grow a variety of indigenous botanical species to rehabilitate the landscape and support the harvesting of sustainable natural resources. The seed bank is directly linked to the research facility which is dedicated to the investigation and understanding of human-nature interactions along the park’s border. These conservation processes and findings are captured and revealed in the narrative of the ecological museum which forms a large component of the education spaces provided within the project. The three primary programs are consolidated within the design to create a constructed journey through the site. This enables the architecture to become the tour guide that enhances the visitor’s experience through man-made and ecological encounters along the way. In so doing a layering of public/private spaces is established using thresholds to create transition zones which blur the boundaries between inside and outside whilst maintaining a hierarchy of space. As with the building’s program the design is sensitive to its context. The project explores the typologies of the local community, farm structures and botanical nurseries to create an appropriate hybrid between the manufactured and hand crafted. This aesthetic is achieved through the use of locally sourced materials and labour in an attempt to reintroduce the disappearing vernacular building techniques to the region. This exploration is realised in the structural concept of articulating and combining elements of mass, skeleton and skin. In so doing, the architecture becomes a living organism which is climate responsive and houses both people and nature within its form. The structure is designed using the ‘eave’ to create an edge condition that modifies the micro climate of the interior and exterior spaces. It is through these edge conditions that the aesthetic of the building is transformed as species inhabit the structure to establish new ecosystems. This thesis does not attempt to provide a solution to the many threats facing this conservancy, but rather to focus on an area dealing with such challenges and allow architecture to house the means to empower, educate and expose users to the fragility of the natural landscape of the region. It is essential that wildlife conservation is extensively studied and implemented in order for nature to sustainably benefit the communities living off it; tourists travelling to it and conservationists working for it.

MSc., Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, 2011 / ABSTRACT Observations of the changes in woody plant density in the Kruger National Park (KNP) over 58 years have shown an increase in large woody plant density on granite substrates, which is attributed to fire and herbivore density. Woody plants persist in areas with frequent fires, herbivory and drought by resprouting or protecting seeds in the ground. Soil seed banks, which are stores of seeds below ground or in leaf litter, provide 'insurance' for trees and allow populations to persist in unfavourable environments. No comprehensive studies have been conducted on soil seed bank ecology of Acacia species in the Kruger National Park, a research gap which this study aimed to fill. The spatial distribution and density of in situ soil seed banks for four Acacia species, A. grandicornuta, A. nilotica, A. senegal and A. tortilis was assessed in the Skukuza land system of the KNP, South Africa. In situ soil seed banks were quantified for eight mature trees per species during 2005/2006. Greenhouse and field seed burial trials were carried out for one year and 16 months respectively, between 2005 and 2007, to investigate the persistence of Acacia seeds over an extended period of time. Post-dispersal seed predation of Acacia seeds was investigated during July 2006 in six demarcated grids within 15 km of Skukuza. Overall soil seed bank density differed significantly among species, being highest for A. tortilis (19.5 ± 6.4 seeds m-2), followed by A. grandicornuta (12.1 ± 6.9 seeds m-2), A. nilotica (4.9 ±1.8 seeds m-2) and lowest for A. senegal (0.6 seeds ± 0.4 seeds m-2). Generally, seed bank density decreased with depth in the soil and distance from the centre of the tree canopy. Seed bank density increased significantly with a decrease in soil compaction for A. senegal only, while it was not related to over-storey canopy shading or herbaceous biomass for any of the species. No significant relationship was found between seed bank density and tree characteristics such as stem diameter, bark thickness or tree canopy area for any of the species. Viability of seeds from the seed bank decreased between species as follows: A. tortilis (77% of 142 seeds), A. nilotica (61% of 39 seeds), A. grandicornuta (58% of 87 seeds), and A. senegal (0% of 4 seeds). For all species with viable seeds, viability decreased with distance from the centre of the tree canopy. Bruchid beetle predation (assessed on 100 newly produced seeds) was low for all four species. Fifty seeds each of A. grandicornuta, A. senegal and A. tortilis and 100 A. nilotica seeds were destroyed by fire during the field seed burial trial, of which four hundred seeds/species were used. Of the remaining seeds, 15% of A. senegal, 19% of A. grandicornuta, 34% of A. nilotica and 66% of A. tortilis remained intact after 16 months in the field. Of these, 65% of A. tortilis, 27% of A. nilotica, 5% of A. grandicornuta and no A. senegal seeds were still viable. The percentage of remaining intact, viable seeds was highest under tree canopy cover and buried for A. tortilis (86%), A. nilotica (39%) and A. grandicornuta (6%), but the micro-site placement of seeds had a significant effect on viability for A. nilotica only (d.f. = l; χ2 = 7.5; P = 0.006). In the greenhouse seed burial trial (150 seeds/species/treatment), one percent of the total seed lot germinated, which was 2.9% of A. grandicornuta, 0.7% of A. senegal and 0.2% of both A. nilotica and A. tortilis. A. tortilis had the highest percentage of remaining intact, viable seeds (92.2%), followed by A. nilotica (58.3%), A. grandicornuta (57.6%) and A. senegal (0%). The number of remaining intact, viable seeds was highest when watered with the average rainfall (327 seeds), followed by the highest (314 seeds) and lowest rainfall (296 seeds). There was no association between rainfall treatments and the number of remaining intact, viable seeds for any of the species, except for A. grandicornuta where the number of remaining intact, viable seeds increased significantly with the average rainfall. Across six grids in the Skukuza land system, A. grandicornuta was the most dominant woody plant of six study species, followed by Dichrostachys cinerea, A. tortilis, A. nilotica, A. senegal and A. nigrescens. Woody plant density in grids varied between 226 plants ha-1 (Grid 3) to 1618 plants ha-1 (Grid 5), with a mean density of 862 ± 195 plants ha-1. Overall, woody plant species diversity was low (Shannon Wiener Index, 1.8 ± 2.8; Evenness Index, 0.7 ± 0.02; Simpson's Reciprocal Index, 4.5 ± 0.6). The dung of nine species of large herbivore was recorded across all six grids. Large herbivores favoured seeds of indehiscent (55 A. tortilis seeds and 11 A. nilotica seeds) over dehiscent pods (1 A. grandicornuta seed). Only 9% (five A. tortilis seeds and one A. grandicornuta seed) of the 67 seeds extracted from dung germinated after a six-week germination trial. Less than half the remaining ungerminated A. nilotica seeds (46%) and A. tortilis seeds (40%) tested viable. There was no correlation between the number of termitaria recorded and the number of Acacia trees growing on them (r = 0.07). Termite mounds occupied 0.0009 ± 0.0003 ha per grid matrix (0.8%). Only four rodent species were recorded across all six grids, Mastomys coucha (multimammate mouse), Rhabdomys pumilio (striped mouse), Aethomys chrysophilus (red veld rat) and Tatera leucogaster (highveld gerbil). Rodent species diversity was low (Shannon Wiener Index, 0.6 ± 0.2; Evenness Index, 0.6 ± 0.2; Simpson's Reciprocal Index, 1.9 ± 0.3). In the field cafeteria trial there was a significant difference in the percentage of seeds removed between seed species (P < 0.05; F = 2.8; d.f. = 3, 236). There was a significant difference in the percentage of seeds removed from trays placed under vegetation cover compared with trays placed in the open (P = 0.034). This study suggests that A. grandicornuta, A. nilotica and A. tortilis seeds form short-term persistent seed banks, while A. senegal seeds are transient and do not form seed banks. Seeds of several woody plants were ingested by large herbivores and selected by rodents. The relevance of soil seed banks to regeneration of Acacia trees needs to be evaluated by investigating whether these species rely more on seed production or resprouting for individual recruitment into tree populations. Once this issue is clarified the effect of certain factors on seed fate and consequently, recruitment of individuals into plant populations, can be more clearly understood. This will assist in managing and understanding these potentially encroaching species in the Kruger National Park, South Africa.

MSc., Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, 2011 / Abundance counts of ungulate species which are carried out using an aerial census are susceptible to measurement errors. These measurement errors result from environmental factors such as vegetation cover and the resultant effect that factors, such as the annual rainfall pattern, have on the accuracy of the count. Given these measurement errors, models of population abundance that are based on these counts should not only account for the population dynamic process - they need to model the measurement error process simultaneously in order to produce plausible estimates. In addition to this, the recorded counts from these censuses do not give a breakdown of the total count into the different gender and life-history stages of the animals counted. This research report investigates the usefulness of a hierarchical Bayesian hidden process modelling approach at explicitly including the measurement error process and a sub-model for the gender and life-history stage of the animals counted into a population dynamics model based on the aerial census counts. The data used are aerial counts of Kudu in the Kruger National Park from 1983 to 1993. The result is a model which estimates the measurement error in each year of the census and also breaks down the overall count into the numbers in each gender and life-history stage. The usefulness of the model is evaluated based on statistical model diagnostics.

Invasive alien species are considered the second greatest threat to global biodiversity after habitat loss. South Africa is not immune from such threats and it is estimated that 10 million ha (8.28%) of land has been invaded to some extent by invasive alien species. Although South Africa has been invaded by several taxa, it is the effect of invasive trees and shrubs that has been environmentally and economically most damaging. The concerns raised due to the effects of biological invasion are not only restricted to off-reserve areas, but also protected areas where invasive alien organisms often pose a greater threat than habitat loss. Kruger National Park (KNP), South Africa’s flagship conservation area has been invaded by numerous plant taxa. The most damaging of these is Opuntia stricta (Cactaceae) and current sources estimate that the weed has invaded approximately 35 000 ha of conserved land, despite the initiation of a biological control programme against it. However, little is known about the effect of O. stricta on biodiversity in the KNP despite the large number of resources allocated to its eradication, including a successful biological control programme against it. In this study, I investigated the effect of O. stricta infestation on beetle (Order Coleoptera) and spider (Order Araneae) assemblages across four treatments of varying O. stricta infestation levels (heavy infestation, medium infestation, surrounded sites and pristine sites). Species characteristic of each treatment (indicator species) were identified using the indicator method. In addition, spiders were collected to gauge the effectiveness of three collecting methods (pitfall traps, leaf litter sifting and active searching) in a savanna characterized by O. stricta invasion. One hundred and thirty one spider species (1050 individuals) and 72 beetle species (2162 individuals) were collected in the treatments. I found no significant differences in species richness, species density and species assemblages for both beetles and spiders across the treatments. In addition, no beetle or spider species were found to be characteristic indicator species for a given treatment, which further indicates that arthropod assemblages are similar when compared across treatments. These results indicate that O. stricta does not appear to have a significant effect on beetle and spider assemblages at its current infestation level, possibly because of the similarity in vegetation structure across the treatments. Regarding spiders, different collecting methods captured different species and only 17% of the species were shared, indicating that the methods complement each other. Therefore, in order to sample the spider community, all three methods should be employed. Of the 131 spider species collected, 54 species (41%) are new records for the KNP. In light of the results, it is suggested that KNP’s successful biological control programme has played an important role in reducing the extent of the O. stricta infestation and should be continued to further mitigate the impacts of O. stricta. / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Zoology and Entomology / unrestricted

In the Kruger National Park (KNP), pansteatitis in sharptooth catfish, Clarias gariepinus (Burchell), was shown to be a serious problem in the inlets to large man-made lakes fed by rivers arising in the polluted catchments of the Olifants and Sabie rivers. An increasing prevalence of pansteatitis was recorded in catfish from the Olifants River gorge. A low prevalence was found in catfish upstream of the gorge at two further sites. No pansteatitis was detected in catfish from a rain-filled dam distant from the potential pollution sources affecting the Olifants River and in rivers arising outside of the park that were not dammed. Analysis of stomach content indicated a higher prevalence of fish in the diet of catfish affected by pansteatitis than in those not affected. Significant pathology in catfish was limited to changes associated with a generalised necrosis and inflammation of adipose tissues (pansteatitis), and there was evidence that lesions accumulated over time. Similar pathology was found in a captive population of catfish with known nutritional pansteatitis. Pathology in other organs that might have been attributed to pollution could not be demonstrated. Examination of blood smears and measurement of haematocrit, blood haemoglobin, serum vitamin E and erythrocyte glutathione peroxidase values did not prove useful as monitoring tools, probably because of the episodic exposure to oxidative stress and the chronic nature of the condition. Pansteatitis-affected catfish, kept in an experimental pond for 11 months after the inciting nutritional cause had been removed, retained steatitis lesions almost unaltered. Whereas lipolysis appeared to be reduced by pansteatitis, adipogenesis appeared to be unaffected. Juvenile catfish confined in experimental tanks with sediments from sites where pansteatitis occurred remained healthy, and no pathology developed after 14 months, suggesting that sediments were not directly toxic. The results of the study present the first record of pansteatitis in both wild and farmed African sharptooth catfish and emphasize the ecological importance and complexity of nutritional oxidative stress in a disturbed aquatic environment. Nutrient entrapment and the consumption of phytoplankton-feeding fish rich in polyunsaturated fats, particularly silver carp, Hypophthalmichthys molitrix (Valenciennes), a species alien to Africa but present in the Olifants River, is proposed as the dietary cause of the pansteatitis. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Paraclinical Sciences / unrestricted

Thesis (MSc)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Non-native species are recognized as a major component of global environmental change. Their ecological impacts are numerous and include the alteration of whole ecosystem processes as well as the loss of native biodiversity. As such, understanding the processes that drive the invasion of non-native species is essential for the control and management thereof. Numerous research approaches have been used to provide insight on the history and ecology of non-native species invasions. However, recent approaches employing molecular techniques have greatly helped in solving taxonomic issues associated with some of these species; identifying sources of invasions; and shedding light on colonization dynamics. Lantana camara, a globally invasive and highly variable species complex, is one of the most notorious plant invaders in South Africa. The species has been associated with negative impacts in agricultural areas, decreased invertebrate diversity, livestock mortality, and where it occurs along riparian areas- decreased water quality and obstruction to accessing water sources. This project aimed to review L. camara invasions in South Africa and to unravel patterns of spread in L. camara along the Sabie-Sand catchment in South Africa’s flagship protected area, the Kruger National Park, using a molecular approach. The findings of the first part of the study highlight that L. camara has successfully spread across South Africa with only four known introduction events, and this can be attributed to the species’ broad ecological tolerance, its use in the horticultural industry, and a variety of dispersal vectors (birds, humans and rivers). Furthermore, although sale of the species is prohibited in the country, it will continue to spread naturally and also has the potential to expand its distribution under changing climate scenarios. The second part of the study highlights that spread along the Sabie-Sand catchment is primarily river-driven and that the Sand tributary is the invasion source in the system. Because the Sand tributary originates outside the Kruger National Park, and only a small portion is under park management, the implications for spread are important. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Nie-inheemse spesies word erken as 'n belangrike komponent van die globale omgewing verandering. Hulle ekologiese impak is talle en sluit in die verandering van ekosisteem prosesse asook die verlies van inheemse biodiversiteit. As sodanig, die begrip van die prosesse wat lei tot die inval van 'n nie-inheemse spesies is noodsaaklik vir die beheer en bestuur daarvan. Talle navorsingsbenaderings is gebruik om insig te gee oor die geskiedenis en ekologie van nie-inheemse spesies invalle. Onlangse benaderings soos die gebruik van molekulêre tegnieke, help in die oplossing van taksonomiese kwessies wat verband hou met 'n paar van hierdie spesies,in die identifisering van bronne van invalle, en om lig te werp op die kolonisasie dinamika. Lantana camara, 'n wêreldwye indringende en spesie kompleks, is een van die mees berugte plantindringer in Suid-Afrika. Die spesie is geassosieer met negatiewe gevolge in landbou gebiede, afgeneem ongewerwelde diversiteit, vee mortaliteit, en waar dit voorkom saam oewer gebiede - afgeneem kwaliteit van die water en obstruksie tot waterbronne. Hierdie projek is daarop gemik om om L. camara invalle in Suid-Afrika te hersien en patrone van verspreiding te ontrafel in L. camara langs die Sabie-Sand-opvanggebied in Suid-Afrika se vlagskip beskermde gebied, die Kruger Nasionale Park, met behulp van 'n molekulêre benadering. Die bevindinge van die eerste deel van die studie wys dat L. camara het suksesvol versprei oor die hele Suid-Afrika met slegs vier bekende inleiding gebeure, en dit kan toegeskryf word aan die spesie se breë ekologiese verdraagsaamheid, die gebruik daarvan in die hortologie bedryf, en 'n verskeidenheid van die verspreiding vektore (voëls, mens en riviere). Verder, hoewel die verkoop van die spesie in die land verbied word, sal dit natuurlik voortgaan om te versprei en het ook die potensiaal om uit te brui onder veranderende klimaat scenario's. Die tweede deel van die studie wys dat versprei langs die Sabie-Sandopvanggebied hoofsaaklik rivier-gedrewe is en dat die Sand sytak die inval bron is. Omdat die Sand sytak buite die Kruger Nasionale Park ontstaan, en slegs 'n klein gedeelte onder park bestuur is, is die implikasies vir verspreiding belangrik. / Financial support from the DST-NRF Centre of Excellence for Invasion Biology and the Working for Water (WfW) Programme through their collaborative project on “Research for Integrated Management of Invasive Alien Species” and Stellenbosch University’s Subcommittee B Young Researcher's Fund

D.Phil. / What underlies species distribution and species coexistence has long been of key interest in community ecology. Several methods and theories have been used to address this question. However, it still remains a controversial debate. The recent development of plant DNA barcodes with possibility of merging phylogeny with ecology brings high expectation in uncovering the processes underlying community assemblages. Previous works that used molecular approach in community ecology focused mainly on rainforests. Using a phylogenetic approach, this study brings novel understandings about savanna ecology, especially regarding how megaherbivores impact plant community composition. The Kruger National Park (KNP) is one of the world’s largest reserves, but less studied from a phylogenetic perspective. A DNA database of 445 DNA sequences (plant DNA barcodes, rbcLa + matK) was generated for the woody plants of the KNP. This database proves reliable in reconstructing the phylogeny of Angiosperms of the park. Based on this phylogeny, the present study characterised plant community composition, and investigated how megaherbivores influence this composition. Results indicate that plant communities in the KNP are not neutral, i.e. they are more clustered than expected under various null models. This suggests that ecological forces, most likely habitat filtering may be playing key role in dictating community structure in the KNP. The KNP is well-known for its richness in megaherbivores. The contribution of these animals to the current shape of plant community structures was therefore further investigated. Where megaherbivores have been excluded, plant diversity decreases, but shifts in plant community structure are contingent upon the initial community composition, suggesting that herbivory might be important filter that drives the clustering pattern observed.

M.Sc. / Boreholes in the Kruger National Park (KNP) was at first developed to increase the number of animals that were at low densities because of poaching, diseases, fencing and low permanent water availability. This development of artificial waterholes without managerial measures or knowledge of possible consequence led to negative impacts on the environment. These included that the higher concentration of herbivores around artificial waterholes led to a change in vegetation; secondary vegetation growth did not support the feeding habits of water dependent species; the infiltration rate of water in the soil surrounding waterholes changed and animal distribution patterns also changed, in turn changing the predatory base. Due to the above the KNP developed a new water policy. The policy states that all artificial waterholes that are open should be part of natural ecosystem principles. This led to the closure of many artificial waterholes that did not conform to the requirements of the new water policy. This study aimed to determine the ecological implications of artificial waterholes and whether tourism will be affected by the closure of these artificial waterholes. The following two hypothesis were thus tested in this project: i) Artificial waterholes have ecological implications on the environment. ii) The closure of artificial waterholes will have a negative response from tourists and thus affect tourism to the KNP. The results from this project indicated that both these hypothesises can be accepted as the available literature clearly showed that artificial waterholes do have a negative impact on the environment and that the majority of the tourist questioned asked for the waterholes to be opened again. The latter reaction was mainly due to the tourist‟s concern that the animals will suffer and die without water. Furthermore the visitors are concerned they won‟t see animals anymore. This result can partly be due to the low awareness of the visitors on the subject. No effort was made to communicate these decisions, and the reasons it‟s based on, to the public. Although a certain number of artificial waterholes were closed according to the new KNP policy, it is still important to keep a number open due to fact that KNP is not a natural system. It is suggested however that the closure of the artificial waterholes take place differently, following a principle of rotational opening and closing of patches of waterholes to allow recovery of vegetation and facilitate migration between waterholes.

M.Comm. / Tourism development has the potential to have significant impacts on the environment. To ensure that tourism is sustainable into the future there needs to be a balance between tourism development and environmental concerns. The move towards sustainable tourism development requires that there be a closer co-operation among four very different stakeholders. These stakeholders include the tourism business, the environment, the host population, and the tourist. The main purpose of this research was to identify, at the Kruger National Park, the levels of awareness and understanding of the concept of sustainable tourism development amongst the four stakeholders. Also are identified are their viewpoints on how to achieve sustainable tourism development, their efforts to ensure it, and the role that marketing can play to ensure sustainable tourism development. This study, being exploratory in nature, made use of in-depth interviews (a qualitative technique) to gather the needed primary data. In-depth interviews were conducted at the Kruger National Park with representatives from the various stakeholder groups. Observation of physical aspects and people behaviours were used to supplement the in-depth interviews. Overall, it was found that most groups are aware of the need to balance environmental concerns with tourism development. Tourists however, are less aware of concepts such as sustainable tourism development than the other stakeholders It is was found that in some cases there is a lack of communication between some of the various stakeholders on various issues. The respondents in this case thought that the other stakeholders might disagree with them on certain issues when in fact their ideas were similar. Strong emphasis is being placed on developing relationships with the local communities and involving them in the decisions that affect them. It is realised that these local communities can have a major impact on the larger ecosystem around the park and could eventually destroy tourism if they are ignored. Local communities need to benefit from the existence of the park. Overall, the respondents do not have a clear understanding of what marketing entails or the contribution it can make to ensuring sustainable tourism development. Marketing is viewed by most as simply selling bed-nights. The marketing function at the Kruger National Park is ineffective and not given the support or attention it requires to operate effectively. For marketing to play a significant role at the park serious attention needs to be given to redesigning the entire marketing department. It is absolutely essential that tourism be developed in an environmentally sustainable manner to ensure the industry's future existence. Marketing of the park needs to be done in a manner that will not lead to the environment being exploited. Marketing, apart from simply selling the park, can play an important role in developing a conservation ethic amongst tourists and potential tourists. This educational role extends to the youth of the country who are the future tourists, tourism developers and conservationists.