The protected areas of South Africa include national parks and marine protected areas managed by the national government, public nature reserves managed by provincial and local governments, and private nature reserves managed by private landowners. Most protected areas are intended for the conservation of flora and fauna. National parks are maintained by South African National Parks (SANParks). A number of national parks have been incorporated in transfrontier conservation areas.
Maputo is a province of Mozambique; the province excludes the city of Maputo. The province has an area of 22,693 km² and a population of 1,968,906. Its capital is the city of Matola.
Gaza is a province of Mozambique. It has an area of 75,709 km2 and a population of 1,422,460.
iSimangaliso Wetland Park is situated on the east coast of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, about 275 kilometres north of Durban. It is South Africa's third-largest protected area, spanning 280 km of coastline, from the Mozambican border in the north to Mapelane south of the Lake St. Lucia estuary, and made up of around 3,280 km2 of natural ecosystems, managed by the iSimangaliso Authority. The park includes:
The Lubombo Transfrontier Conservation Area was born out of the Peace Park Foundation’s vision to establish a network of transfrontier conservation areas in southern Africa. It straddles the border between South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province, southern Mozambique, and Eswatini.
Protected areas in Mozambique are known as conservation areas, and are currently grouped into national parks, national reserves, forest reserves, wildlife utilisation areas (coutadas), community wildlife utilisation areas and private game farms. There are also a number of areas that have been declared as protected areas under a variety of different legislation, which for reasons of simplicity are here grouped together as "other protected areas." Under the Conservation Law of 2014, the protected areas will need to be reclassified into a much more flexible series of new categories which are closer to the international system used by the IUCN. International initiatives such as transfrontier parks are grouped at the end of the page.
Gonarezhou National Park is a national park located in south-eastern Zimbabwe. It is situated in a relatively remote corner of Masvingo Province, south of Chimanimani along the Mozambique border. Owing to its vast size, rugged terrain and its location away from main tourist routes, large tracts of Gonarezhou remain as pristine wilderness.
Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife is a governmental organisation responsible for maintaining wildlife conservation areas and biodiversity in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa. Their headquarters is in Queen Elizabeth Park situated on the northern slopes of Pietermaritzburg, the KwaZulu-Natal provincial capital. Prior to 1994, it was known as the Natal Parks Board.
Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park is a 35,000 km² peace park that is in the process of being formed. It will link the Limpopo National Park in Mozambique, Kruger National Park in South Africa, Gonarezhou National Park, Manjinji Pan Sanctuary and Malipati Safari Area in Zimbabwe, as well as the area between Kruger and Gonarezhou, the Sengwe communal land in Zimbabwe and the Makuleke region in South Africa.
Kosi Bay is a series of four interlinked lakes in the Maputaland area of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
Tembe Elephant Park is a 30 012 ha game reserve in Maputaland, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It is adjacent to Ndumo Game Reserve.
Ndumo Game Reserve is a small South African game reserve located in the far northeast district of KwaZulu-Natal known as Maputaland. It is situated on the border with Mozambique where the Pongola River joins the Great Usutu River. It is adjacent to the Tembe Elephant Park. Ndumo is relatively remote, being over 400 km from Durban. The town of Mkuze is 110 km away.
The Maputaland coastal forest mosaic is an ecoregion of the subtropical moist broadleaf forests Biome, on the Indian Ocean coast of Southern Africa. It covers an area of 30,200 square kilometres (11,700 sq mi) in southern Mozambique, Swaziland, and the KwaZulu-Natal Province of South Africa. Mozambique's capital Maputo lies within the ecoregion.
Protected areas of Eswatini include any geographical area protected for a specific use inside the landlocked country of Eswatini, in southern Africa.
Usuthu-Tembe-Futi Transfrontier Conservation Area is a group of protected areas in southern Africa, straddling parts of South Africa, Mozambique and Eswatini, including the following:
Ponta do Ouro-Kosi Bay Transfrontier Conservation Area (TFCA) is a larger conservation area conceived as an extension of the existing conservation parkland area of the iSimangaliso Wetland Park, to extend north into a similar area on the Mozambique side of the border, and including several other parks in the process. The parks to be included are:
Maputo Special Reserve,, is a nature reserve in Mozambique. The reserve is located on Maputo Bay, approximately 100 kilometers southeast of the city of Maputo, Mozambique. The Reserve is 77,400 hectares in extent and was originally proclaimed in 1932. The reserve will eventually form part of the Lubombo Transfrontier Conservation Area, which includes national parks from South Africa, Mozambique and Swaziland. At the moment it forms part of the Usuthu-Tembe-Futi Transfrontier Conservation Area.
The Zinave National Park is a protected area in Mabote District of Inhambane Province, Mozambique, created by decree on 26 June 1973.
Bwabwata National Park is a protected area in northeastern Namibia that was established in 2007 and covers 6,274 km2 (2,422 sq mi). It was created by merging Caprivi Game Park and Mahango Game Reserve. It is situated in the Zambezi and Kavango East regions, extending along the Caprivi Strip. It is bounded by the Okavango River to the west and the Kwando River to the east. Angola lies to the north and Botswana to the south.
The following index is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the protected areas of South Africa:
