New park fees come into effect

ELLANIE SMIT

WINDHOEK



The tourism ministry has announced new park and conservation fees that will come into effect in January 2021.

The new fees were introduced because there was a shortfall in resources to conserve wildlife and maintain park infrastructure.

The ministry previously said that the conservation fee would accrue to the Game Products Trust Fund and would be used for maintenance of park infrastructure, human-wildlife conflict mitigation, wildlife protection and law enforcement. For Namibian residents, park entrance fees will range from N$10 to N$30, while the additional conservation fee will be between N$10 and N$20, depending on which parks are visited. SADC residents will pay between N$30 and N$60 for park fees and N$20 and for N$40 for conservation fees, while foreigners will pay between N$40 and N$100 and N$20 and N$50 respectively.

The ministry said it had not increased park entrance fees since 2005 and the fees are the lowest in the Southern African Development Community (SADC).