The Mapungubwe National Park recently won the Park of the Year award during the annual Kudu Awards ceremony that was hosted by South African National Parks (SANParks).

The award was to recognise the park for proactive conservation management in respect of rehabilitation and elephant management.

Mapungubwe was also recognised for exceeding targets on tourism income to cost ratios, and local constituency building for the newly established park, with a resulting 60.5% black visitor component.

The Kudu awards were launched by the Chief Executive, Dr David Mabunda, at an inaugural event last year in June, and are an awaited annual celebration in the industry, aimed at recognising and acknowledging staff, stakeholders and members of the community who have made a meaningful and significant contribution to conservation and the organisation.

“What is exiting for me to note this year is the tremendous improvement in the quality of the entries,” said Dr Mabunda, chief executive of SANParks.

In the media category, the award was presented to Guy Rogers of The Herald, in recognition of his commitment to exposing and reporting on conservation in a fair and unbiased manner, while a special award was presented to former Mirror correspondent Dirk Nel, who received an award posthumously in recognition of his lifelong commitment to reporting on conservation matters.