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Wilderness Foundation to manage Shamwari wilderness

Control of more than 1 300 hectares of land in the privately-owned Shamwari game reserve has been ceded to the Wilderness Foundation

The formal hand-over of control of the land to the foundation is the final legal step in creating what is believed to be Africa's first privately-owned wilderness area. All traces of human habitation and influence are being removed from the land which borders on the Shamwari Reserve, and only 16 people will be allowed into the wilderness area at any one time, says Shamwari founder Adrian Gardiner. Control of the land by the Wilderness Foundation has been written into the title deed in a ground-breaking move which has already sparked widespread interest from private land-owners in South Africa and neighboring Namibia

The deed of servitude is in line with existing South African laws dealing with wilderness areas, according to Mr. Gardiner. The declared objectives in relation to Wilderness Areas are "to protect largely undisturbed natural areas which serve human, physical and spiritual well-being. "In order to achieve that, a Wilderness Area must be an enduring natural area of sufficient size to retain its character. It is an area where little or no persistent evidence of human intrusion is permitted, so that natural processes will take place largely unaffected by human intervention. "Cultural resources which may occur in these areas will also be protected. "Non-mechanized and strictly controlled access to Wilderness Areas should be stressed. "As pristine natural areas, they should be established to ensure that future generations will have an opportunity to seek solitude in largely undisturbed areas." Criteria for selection and management include: "An undeveloped area, preferably uninhabited by man and retaining an intrinsically wild appearance and character and capable of being restored to such a condition. "It must be of sufficient size to protect the wilderness character and to provide the wilderness experience and by physically and visually separated, preferably by other protected area categories from adjacent areas of development and habitation . "Preservation of the natural environment and wilderness character will be the highest management priority.

"Controlled access for visitors seeking the wilderness experience in a natural environment will be permitted in strict accordance with the natural carrying capacity of the area. "It should be managed by a nationally-recognized authority or institution." According to Mr. Gardiner, it was decided to find a legal way of writing these conditions into a private title deed rather than handing the land over to the national parks authority because the process was much shorter. Procedures that need to be followed before land could be declared a wilderness area in terms of the Forestry Act include giving notice of the proposal and the invitation of comments, consideration of the comments and objections, and the gazetting and publication of the notice of intention in newspapers, and on radio. "Having considered the state route Shamwari, together with its legal advisors agreed that there was nothing to prevent the owner of the land which falls within the definition and has as objectives the Wilderness Area concept as enunciated in the general policy under the Environment Conservation Act granting a servitude over its property in favor of an internationally-recognized institution . "The servitude required no more than agreement between the landowner binding its successors in title and the Institution as to the use and method of use of the land in question. "A suitable body of rules can be contractually agreed upon which will govern the use of the land and which will achieve the same result as intended by the Act."