Namaqua National Park

Namaqua National Park IUCN category  : designated -
Park in spring
location	South Africa
surface	1047 km²
WDPA ID	308685
Geographical location	30 ° 12 ′  S , 17 ° 49 ′  E Coordinates: 30 ° 12 ′ 0 ″  S , 17 ° 49 ′ 0 ″  E
Setup date	( 1988 )
administration	South African National Parks

The Namaqua National Park ( English Namaqua National Park ) is located in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa . The park protects the typical Namaqualand landscape with a large variety of succulents (such as crassula , adromischus, pelargonium , stapelia ) and bulbous plants. Many of these plants are endemic here .

In the months of August and September, after the winter rain, the gray to brown land is covered with an apparent carpet of millions of flowering plants. Then you can expect a lot of visitors on the circular route that can be driven with a normal car and on the hiking trails, for the rest of the year you are mostly alone with the landscape as a visitor.

fauna and Flora

More than 3,000 plant species are native to the park.

The animal world is dominated by birds with over 150 species, followed by mammals (approx. 50 species) and reptiles (approx. 30 species). The smallest species of tortoise in the world, Homopus signatus , is also native here.

climate

The park is located in the winter rain region of South Africa; Most of the rainfall occurs from June to August. Then it can get very cold at night, with temperatures around freezing point. Due to the higher elevation and the surrounding mountains, outside of the rainy season, the nocturnal fog that moves inland from the coast often catches here .

history

The beginning of the national park was the former Skilpad Wildflower Reserve founded in 1988 by WWF South Africa with 930 hectares . Later, after the de Beers Company bought up farmland and owned it, the size of 68,000 hectares was reached and the area was given national park status and its current name. In November 2008 another 36,000 hectares were added on permanent loan (2 × 99 years) from the de Beers property.

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  Spring blossom in the park

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Web links

Commons : Namaqua National Park  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• South African National Parks: Namaqua National Park . National park administration website at www.sanparks.org (English)