THURSDAY, 4 OCTOBER 2001: The people of Southern African witnessed the consolidation of the most significant conservation project in the world, as Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism Valli Moosa handed over the first 40 of 1 000 elephants to his Mozambican counterpart at an event held on the banks of the Shingwezi river today.

The programme, which is part of a trinational environmental collaboration including Mozambique and Zimbabwe, will ultimately usher into being what is being dubbed Africa’s Super Park, the Gaza-Kruger-Gonarezhou, stretching over 35 000 square kilometres.

Speaking at the official handover ceremony, Moosa said that apart from its enormous size, the world has never known a park straddling three countries. “This will truly be the world's greatest animal kingdom.”

The project is also expected to give a major boost to tourism in the region when the GKG Park is opened. ”It is a major regional economic project that can only generate an economic boom for the people of Southern Africa. It will also attract much-needed investments from all over the world. It is a showpiece of what regional integrated economic planning can achieve," Moosa said.

Former South African President Nelson Mandela opened the gate separating the two countries’ parks for the handover. Speaking later, Mandela emphasised the establishment of the GKG Park as a one of the region's peace parks.

"This new park will also serve as a monument to peace. It is one of the direct results of the demise of apartheid. This operation -- second only to the moving of Noah’s Ark -- constitutes the biggest animal relocation anywhere in the world. This symbolic relocation today is our pledge of commitment to making this dream comes to life,” Moosa said earlier.