Choosing partners
Town on the edge of Hluhluwe. Unemployment and human population growth on the borders are major challenges to protected areas.
Criteria for selecting project partner sites
Criteria have been carefully drawn up in order to enable the Project to select the best partner sites to receive founder populations of black rhino. The site has to provide suitable black rhino habitat with an ecological carrying capacity of more than 50 black rhino.
Few, if any, single private landholders own big enough pieces of land, so it is expected that partnerships will be made between adjacent landowners who are prepared to drop fences.
There should be no barriers to free movement - like fences, mountains or un-crossable rivers - of the black rhino population, and the land must have good security prospects. Landowners must also show a demonstrable capacity and commitment to manage and protect a black rhino population. Properties with a link to an existing black rhino area have an advantage, as do those offering economic potential to local communities.
