ORAPA GAME PARK

The Orapa game park was formed from a core conservation area, initially developed by concerned members of the Orapa community, starting in 1985.

Orapa game park   Debswana Diamond Company is committed to minimising the negative impact of mining on the environment. These are some of the species found at Orapa game park.

 

The original conservation area was developed from a badly degraded cattle-grazing and recreational area surrounding the mine. In the years following the upgrade of the original area, wildlife including Springbok, Blue Wildebeest, Eland and Zebra were relocated to the park to supplement the original game populations.

In 1990 the 'Phala' centre and a dam were built. Eland, Waterbuck and Giraffe were relocated to the park in 1991, and infrastructure upgrades continued in 1992 when a park attendant was employed.

Education formed an intrinsic part of the development of this park, when in 1993 the 'Motswedi wa Thuto' education centre was built to enhance conservation education in the area. The same year the park’s total area was increased from 3000 ha to over 9 000 ha with over 50km of perimeter fencing.

A full time conservation officer was employed in 2000, and a conservation centre was developed. The parks size was increased yet again to its current size of 10,800 ha.