Quissama - The Minister of Environment, Ana Paula de Carvalho, on Friday said the Quissama National Park will be one of the country's biggest tourism attractions, as a result of the investments made in recent years in this nature reserve.
The park, with an area of 9,600 square kilometers and an animal population of around 3,000, has seen improvements in recent years in terms of infrastructure and technological services for monitoring and surveillance of flora and fauna.
According to the government official, who was speaking at the end of a visit by the Vice-President of the Republic, Esperança da Costa, to Quissama Park, this work is the result of combined action encouraged by the President of the Republic, João Lourenço.
‘This action has improved the park's management and the empowerment of local communities, and the development of this natural conservation area requires concerted action,’ explained the minister.
Ana Paula de Carvalho said that as part of the joint action with the community, a project called ‘TOP10+1’ is underway to raise awareness among children, aimed at pupils at school 7008, in Quissama Park.
The Environment Minister said that in recent months, the number of tourists has increased, bringing more revenue to the state coffers and some direct benefits to the local community.
‘We think that this trend (increase in tourists) will continue to grow with the reintegration of some animal species in order to attract more visitors, both national and foreign,’ the minister said.
The minister pointed out that tourism is not just for foreigners and that Angolans need to get into the habit of doing it in the country too, which is why everything is being done to better preserve the national parks.
During the Vice-President's stay in the park, she visited the 7008 school, where an environmental awareness project called ‘TOP10+1’ is taking place, and went on a safari to see some animal species.
Tourism in Quissama
The Quissama National Park receives 500 tourists a week, both domestic and foreign.
The majority of foreigners are Chinese, Brazilian, Portuguese, Namibian and South African.
Tourists pay 40,000 kwanzas for a day, which includes breakfast, and the service is by reservation, both for accommodation and for safari and catering services.
People over the age of 13 pay 10,000 kwanzas for the safari service, from six to 12 years old, 6,000 kwanzas, and children under five are exempt from paying.
The maximum price for meals is 15,000 kwanzas and the low price varies between Kz 10 and 12 000 kwanzas.
The animals in greatest quantity are wildebeest, horse ox, elephants, gazelles, impalas, deer and zebras.
The Quissama National Park, located in the municipality of Quiçama, covers an area of 9,600 km².
Its vegetation varies from the banks of the Kwanza River to the interior of the park, with mangroves, dense forest, forest-savanna mosaic, open forest and dry tropical forest.CLAU/AJQ/AMP
