German state bank gives 24.8M dollars to African nature reserve

Jun 17, 2010, 11:28 GMT

Frankfurt - The German state development bank, KfW, has donated some 20 million euros (24.8 million dollars) for the development of a conservation park straddling five African countries, bank officials announced Thursday.

The Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Park, which covers nearly 280,000 square kilometres of Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe, is part of the so-called Peace Parks initiative, which aims to turn former conflict areas into conservation zones.

'With the creation of this park, the protection of biodiversity and economic development come together,' said KfW board member Norbert Kloppenburg.

The park, which is about the same size as Italy, is intended as a major eco-tourism destination, and is due to open in the course of 2010.

KfW disburses money earmarked for development projects by Germany's Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development.

Eco-tourism is seen as one of the most effective ways of spurring job creation in southern Africa.