Honorable ministers present here today, former President Nelson Mandela, honored guests.

The creation of the great Gaza-Kruger-Gonarezhou Transfrontier Park is the single most significant conservation project in the world today. It is also, by far, the world’s most ambitious nature conservation project. But, it is also a project that promises to bring a better life to some of the poorest citizens of Southern Africa. In many ways this project is a demonstrable manifestation of the African Renaissance.

The sheer size of the joint park we are taking the first steps to establish here today, makes it one of the biggest wildlife reserves in the world. Apart from its enormous size, the world has never known a park straddling three countries. This will truly be the the world's greatest animal kingdom. We can take pride in the knowledge that this step will open up the natural migratory routes for the herds of elephants and other animals up to now artificially blocked by political boundaries constructed by the colonial masters of Southern Africa.

At the heart of rebuilding our continent is the upliftment of the lives of our people, to restore the dignity that has been taken away by decades of neglect and poverty. In all that we do we need to keep this focus clear. This project contributes directly to this goal. 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.

This initiative gives us a chance to share resources and empower each other as neighbors -- a stark contrast to what was the case hardly a decade ago. While the immediate result of the establishment of this park will mean that Coutada 16 will have access to the almost one million visitors of the Kruger in a year, it is safe to predict that the overall number of visitors to the new transfrontier park will be much more than the arithmetic sum of those visiting Kruger, Coutada and Ghonarezhou presently. So we can safely expect many new jobs and business’s to be established in the region and the subsequent socio-economic upliftment and poverty reduction.

This new park will also serve as a monument to peace. It is one of the direct results of the demise of apartheid. The joint responsibility for and the common benefit of the park will contribute to the sustenance of the peace we enjoy with our neighbors. It is an important step towards consolidating that peace. But for many of us, it is a celebration of the peace between South Africa and its neighbours. These countries share a rich history, our people have the same roots, we have the same river, the Limpopo, giving life to the plant and animal kingdoms in our countries and, in fact, for some of the animals that will find their way to Mozambique it is like going back home from whence they came.

With the conflict going on in other parts of the continent and indeed the world, this is something to hold up for all to see.

The political, social, environmental and economic dimensions makes this a step towards the realisation of the African Renaissance. One of the objectives of the New Africa Initiative is “to identify key ‘anchor’ projects at the national and subregional levels, which will generate significant spin-offs and assist in interregional economic integration”. In fact, the programme makes direct reference to "transfrontier conservation areas" in order to "boost conservation and tourism".

Creating the transfrontier park has been an ongoing topic of discussion between the heads of states of our three countries. It featured on the agenda of the very first meeting that President Mbeki held in his capacity as President with Presidents Mugabe and Chissano in 1999. I do not believe that the progress that has been made would have been possible without the ongoing oversight of the leaders of these three countries.

Today we begin the translocation of elephants from Kruger to Mozambique. The intention is to use the massive Kruger elephant population to re-populate the Mozambican side of the transfrontier park.

The eventual relocation of 1 000 elephants over a period of three years to Mozambique is a key part of making history and turning dreams into reality. 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 come to life.

There is no turning back. Through this we are proving that Nature and dreams know no boundaries. When we remove that dreaded fence that separates our countries, we will finally bring down the curtain on the painful relations we used to share as neighbours and open a chapter of lasting peace.