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5.1 Background
The Maloti-Drakensberg Transfrontier Conservation and Development Project is a collaborative initiative between the Governments of the Kingdom of Lesotho and the Republic of South Africa . The main objectives of the project are to conserve the globally significant biodiversity that occurs in the catchments of the 300km border straddling the Maloti and the Drakensberg mountains, and t o stimulate integrated nature-based tourism development with maximum participation of local communities.
Implementation of the five-year project is funded by the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) through the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (the World Bank). On July 26 2002 , the Governments of the Kingdom of Lesotho and the Republic of South Africa , and the World Bank signed the GEF Trust Fund Grant and Project Agreements.
The Maloti-Drakensberg Mountain bioregion has globally significant plant and animal biodiversity, with unique habitats and high levels of endemism. This unique bioregion has an estimated 51.5% endemic plants and has some 119 plant and animal species that are threatened and are listed in the International Red Data Books. Some of these threatened species are the Drakensberg cycad, various lilies and orchids, and birds such as the Bearded vulture and the Cape vulture. 41 out of the 43 Southern African endemic bird species breed in this bioregion. 32 of these are endemic to the bioregion. There are 11 endemic mammal species in the area. The project area is also considered to be one of eight major centres of diversity for reptiles and amphibians in Southern Africa , there being about 40 endemic species present. These levels of diversity and endemism coupled with the existence of the largest concentration of rock art and paintings in sub-Saharan Africa led to the declaration, in December 2000, of one of the largest parks in the bioregion, the Ukhahlamba-Drakensberg Park , as a World Heritage Site.  
The Maloti-Drakensberg bioregion, a 300km long alpine and montane zone, is also the most important water catchment area for the people of Lesotho and South Africa . Two of the largest civil engineering projects in southern Africa, the Tugela-Vaal Scheme and the Lesotho Highlands Water Project, supply water from the mountains to the rest of the Kindom of Lesotho and the economic powerhouse of Africa, the Province of Gauteng.
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However, these special resources and ecosystem functions are increasingly under threat from commercial uses, timber plantations and agricultural practices that are unsustainable. Rangelands in areas of high conservation value have been degraded by grazing regimes based on communal access and decreased regulatory capabilities. The Maloti-Drakensberg Transfrontier Project therefore seeks to address some of these threats and foster a collaborative conservation and development of this globally significant bioregion. A Memoranda of Understanding were signed between the Kingdom of Lesotho and the Republic of South Africa, and among key institutions of three provinces of South Africa, namely, Ezemvelo KwaZulu-Natal Wildlife of KwaZulu-Natal province, Department of Economic Affairs, Environment & Tourism of the Eastern Cape province, Department of Tourism, Environment & Economic Affairs of the Free State province and the South African National Parks.
In addition to specific conservation and development projects implemented on the ground, two specific outputs of the project will be a 25-year bioregional conservation strategy and a tourism development strategy for the bioregion.
5.2
Cultural Importance
One of the two reasons for the declaration of the Ukhahlamba-Drakensberg Park in the Maloti-Drakensberg bioregion as a World Heritage site was the existence of some of the most outstanding and diverse rock art in the area. The bioregion has the largest concentrated group of paintings in Africa , south of the Sahara , and is uniquely different from the rock art found in other continents. Most of the rock paintings found in caves and rock shelters throughout the bioregion were done by the San people over a period of at least 4 000 years. These paintings are masterpieces of human creative genius, bearing testimony to the spiritual lifestyles and beliefs of the San people whose language and culture has been lost to the region over the years. The ancestors of the nineteenth century San people are believed to have inhabited the foothills of the Maloti-Drakensberg mountains from about 8 000 years ago. They (the San) are believed to have been a small group of hunters and gatherers who lived in caves and rock shelters, many of which were adorned with their paintings.
2.4 Tourism opportunities
In addition to rock art which in itself provides spectacular and memorable sights to all the different categories of tourists, the natural architecture and spectacular views of the Maloti-Drakensberg mountains have proved to be major attractions for tourists.
The Maloti-Drakensberg is a spectacular inland range of mountains extending over 5 000km2, straddling 300km of the eastern border between the Kingdom of Lesotho and the Republic of South Africa, a region known for the exceptional beauty of its landscape and natural features. On the Lesotho side, elevations vary from 3 353m along the eastern frontier to about 2 440m further west. Thabana Ntlenyana, at an elevation of 3 482m, is the highest point on the African continent south of Mount Kilimanjaro . On the South African side, the mountains are characterised by an escarpment wall of dark basalt overlaying golden sandstone rock. Jagged picks, ridges and buttresses, ramparts and intervening spurs surge skywards. Steep-sided river valleys and rocky gorges drip with ferns, forests of yellowwoods, cycads and beautiful flowering plants.
The above characteristics make the mountain region a perfect tourism site for various activities including mountaineering, hiking, mountain biking, fly-fishing, paragliding and golfing. A fairly extensive network of tourist developments are already in place, particularly on the South African side. As the MDTP project unfolds and the envisaged tourism development strategy takes shape, more tourism development opportunities will be identified.
 
2.5 History
Media statements
Speeches
2.6 Map
2.7 Related Websites
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