Tsau //Khaeb National Park
Namibia
From giant rock arches, meteor craters, fossil and Closed to the public following the discovery of a diamond at
Park size 22 000 km²
Proclamation Sperrgebiet National Park in 2008
Natural features Sandy shores along the coast in the south and archaeological sites to Africa’s most important shipwreck discovery and some of the most pristine and wild landscapes on the planet, the newly proclaimed Sperrgebiet National Park (SNP) is a jewel in Namibia’s protected area network.
Kolmanskop near Lüderitz by the railway worker, Zacharias Lewala, in 1908, large parts of the Sperrgebiet were left undisturbed for nearly a century. Although this was done to protect the mineral wealth of the area, it also contributed to safeguarding the Succulent Karoo ecosystem, which has the highest diversity of succulent flora globally.
Some 1 050 plant species are known to occur in the SNP, nearly 25 per cent of the entire flora of Namibia on less than three per cent of the land area of the country. This led to the
listing of the Succulent Karoo as one of the world’s top 34 ‘biodiversity hotspots’.
National Parks in Namibia
