About MPRA
Sadly, Marloth Park is not just famous for its amazing wildlife, location on the southern border of Kruger National Park, and the rare privilege it offers property owners and guests from around the world to experience a truly intimate immersion in nature… It is also infamous for its infighting between a minority of very vocal residents – some of whom are active members of local volunteer and property owners organizations. As keyboard warrirors wage their ugly wars, propaganda is flung further than mud in an elephant’s mud bath and unlike elephants and warthogsm the dirt sticks and serves no useful purpose. It’s a heart-breaking situation.
Add into the mix our local municipality who are widely accused of not fulfilling their obligations towards ratepayers and the resident animals, and you have fertile ground for much drama, mis-information and sadly, division. At MPRA, we see this as a missed opportunity to work together to make Marloth Park a better place for all. Despite local propaganda, MPRA has consistently tried to support the work of the local municipality on many levels, and continue to hope that this will be come a reality, possibly even through a CID, which will create a win-win situation for everyone, and most of all for Marloth Park’s present and future.
We remain committed to working with our local municipality and community members to create a Marloth Park that is a safe, happy place for humans and animals alike – a place that will remain a magic wild haven for generations to come. Some of efforts include:
A proper transparent game management plan to be put in place as to game takeoff which does not put our lives or our properties at risk, and to ensure that it gets done in a legal, humane way.
A widely spread falsehood is that MPRA stopped the municipality from culling the wildlife in Marloth with a court interdict in 2016. In the absence of all culling and game reduction in the interim, the blame for game over population and our environment being over grazed is always (incorrectly) laid at the feet of MPRA. However, it does not suit the narrative of many local role players with their own agendas, to acknowledge the FACT that court documents prove that MPRA’s court interdict was purely to prevent the culling of animals, using illegal practices of shooting between houses. However, MPRA, in the same interdict, urged the municipality to perform culling in legally acceptable ways. Further, MPRA has continued to implore the municipality to urgently address the issue from 2016, until 2024, even proposing the services of experienced volunteers to achieve this. Sadly, the recommendations were vetoed by opposing organizations, despite the urgency.
That said, MPRA remain steadfast and in addition to culling in legal and humane ways, we support:
- Proper game counts to be done on a week basis to get a close as possible count (and not using a suck of the thumb formula).
- Having a professor doing a veld survey on a yearly basis and working out a veld management plan which provides us with a way forward as to how to rehabilitate our bush as to alien plants etc. (Taking off game alone will not correct the state of our veld, a veld management plan needs to be set in place and implemented).
- A carrying capacity of game to be worked out according to parklands, undeveloped stands and a certain percentage of supplement feeding and not only parklands as in the past.
- That a portion of the sale of our animals be generated back into Marloth Park to assist us with the further development of Marloth Park.
- The funds generated from the sale of our animals, in addition to funds from membership fees, donations and sponsors to be used to rehabilitate our bush.
- To assist our Wildlife Society with funds for feeding our animals, cleaning up our bush, and all the other important tasks that they perform on behalf of Marloth Park.
- To assist our CPF who selflessly use their own funds to fight crime, patrol and protect Marloth Park.
- To employ a traffic officer to enforce traffic laws to prevent our animals from constantly being killed and wounded by road offenders.
- To train and assist our fire control team, and to help as to the purchasing of the correct equipment necessary to fight a natural disaster.
- Proper Gate control is another major area of concern to avoid having Marloth Park being used as a passage way for drug dealers, poachers and criminals. (A sniffer dog has been suggested to randomly assist at the gates).
- A proper implemented plan to fix our roads and to keep them sustained.
- A properly implemented waste, water, and electricity resource plan and the sustaining of such resources.
- To prevent Lionspruit from being utilized for purposes other than what we as owners invested in, such as RDP houses or anything else that could become an evil for Marloth Park owners and their assets, and the world-renowned tourism the area is known for. This could be done by implementing renewed interest to Lionspruit in the way of a swimming pool with picnic and braai facilities. Using our resident game drive companies to do night drives, bush walks etc.
It is our collective and individual responsibility to preserve and tend to the world in which we all live – Dalai Lama
We agree with the Dalai Lama – and if ever there was a time for us to take up our collective responsibility to ensure the well-being of Marloth Park, it’s now. MPRA is not a voice – it is the collective voice of property owners who care more about doing the right thing for each other and the environment, than for slinging mud from behind their keyboards. We invite you to add your voice – let’s stand together by becoming a member of MPRA for just R350 per annum. If you have questions, please feel free to contact us. Or, you can download, complete and return the membership form below.
