Iona National Park Advances Giraffe Rewilding and Desert Tourism

Written By: Abhirup Gan

Abhirup Gan

I'm Abhirup Gan, a Mass Communication graduate and digital marketing professional. Driven by a passion for storytelling, I create insightful, research-led content that explores tourism trends, destination stories, and hospitality developments with depth and clarity. Through my writing, I hope to inspire readers to discover not only where to travel, but the stories, cultures, and experiences that make every journey meaningful.

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September 7, 2026 12:31 GMT+5:30

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Iona National Park in Namibe Province, Angola, has been establishing a unique conservation tourism trail that merges recovered wildlife, the Atlantic coast, desert habitat and community-led conservation in the park. Spanning 15,150 sq km in southwest Angola, the national park sits on the northwestern part of the Namib Desert, adjoining Namibia’s Skeleton Coast National Park to make up a vast transfrontier conservation area. The current developments at the park follow the management agreement made by the Angolan government and African Parks in 2019. The recovery of the wildlife, development of infrastructure and planning of tourism in the park is being done simultaneously as Angolan giraffes are being reintroduced in 2023 and 2024 following their extinction from the area. The tourism developments provide an opportunity for travellers to visit the farthest corner of Angola, featuring desert dunes meeting the Atlantic Ocean.

Giraffe Rewilding Restores a Historic Species

The return of Angolan giraffe represents one of Iona’s most significant wildlife restoration projects. Fourteen giraffes were moved from Namibia to Iona in July 2023, followed by a second translocation of 13 giraffes in 2024. The two operations restored the species to its historical range in the park.

The reintroduction also connects Iona to a wider cross-border conservation story. The giraffe travelled from Namibia into Angola, while the park itself forms part of the Iona-Skeleton Coast Transfrontier Conservation Area. This geographical continuity allows conservation planning to operate across landscapes rather than stopping at an international boundary.

Iona’s wildlife includes oryx, springbok, Hartmann’s mountain zebra, kudu, cheetah, leopard and brown hyena. The park’s coastal and inland habitats also support substantial birdlife and specialised desert flora.

Welwitschia Landscapes Create a Distinctive Safari Setting

Iona’s tourism appeal is closely connected to the Namib Desert environment. Its landscapes include red and shifting sand dunes, gravel plains, mountains, riverbeds and Atlantic coastline, while fields of Welwitschia mirabilis provide one of the area’s most distinctive botanical attractions.

The plant is exceptionally adapted to the desert environment and can survive for centuries. Iona contains one of the highest densities of Welwitschia in the region, giving nature-focused visitors an opportunity to experience a landscape where ancient vegetation and restored wildlife coexist.

The park’s coastal setting adds another dimension. Lagoons and shoreline habitats support migratory birds, while the Atlantic coast provides routes for fishing, coastal exploration and wildlife observation. The combination of desert and ocean makes Iona different from conventional savannah safari destinations.

Coastal Drives Extend the Visitor Experience

Iona’s developing tourism network is increasingly oriented around overland travel. The route from Moçâmedes towards the park passes through Tômbua, fishing communities and increasingly remote desert landscapes before reaching Iona.

A coastal drive documented in 2025 followed the Atlantic shoreline towards the mouth of the Cunene River and the Namibian border. The journey included dunes, desert vegetation, wildlife sightings, historic remnants and camping landscapes, demonstrating the potential for adventure-oriented travel through the park.

For visitors, the experience is based on distance, wilderness and changing terrain rather than concentrated visitor infrastructure. Four-wheel-drive journeys can connect coastal sections with inland areas, while camping and guided exploration provide access to remote parts of the landscape.

Tourism Activity Is Already Increasing

Iona recorded 6,102 visitors in 2025, with Angolan nationals accounting for 53% of the total. The figure reflects growing domestic and international interest in the park’s desert and coastal environment.

Tourism infrastructure has also expanded. The Pediva headquarters, inaugurated in 2024, provides a permanent operational base inside the park. Infrastructure improvements include road maintenance, additional operational vehicles and visitor-management systems, supporting both conservation operations and tourism access.

The park’s tourism development is therefore taking place alongside improvements in management capacity rather than through large-scale resort construction.

Community Land Use Shapes the Tourism Model

Around 7,000 people, including members of the Himba community and other ethnic groups, live within or around Iona. Community participation is incorporated into land-use planning, conservation education and human-wildlife conflict management. Local communities have contributed information about seasonal cattle migration routes, water points and culturally significant areas used in the Land Use Plan.

This approach is particularly relevant to tourism because the landscape is also a lived environment. Semi-nomadic pastoralism remains part of the region’s social and economic fabric, meaning tourism development has to operate alongside traditional livelihoods and resource use.

Community members have also received training and employment opportunities connected with park operations. In 2025, African Parks reported that local initiatives included craft associations, livelihood groups, literacy programmes and tourism-related activities.

The park also operates a network of wildlife monitors drawn from local communities, bringing traditional knowledge into wildlife observation and conservation operations.

Iona Connects With the Skeleton Coast

Iona‘s location gives it particular importance for cross-border travel. To the south, its landscapes continue towards Namibia’s Skeleton Coast National Park, creating a vast conservation corridor spanning desert, mountains and coastline.

Together with other protected areas in the region, the connected landscapes form one of Africa’s major transfrontier conservation systems. The continuity creates potential for specialist overland itineraries linking Angola’s Namib Desert landscapes with northern Namibian wilderness destinations.

The cross-border character is especially significant for travellers seeking extended desert journeys rather than conventional city-based itineraries.

A New Chapter for Desert Tourism

As a result of the emergence of wildlife restoration, community participation, and tourism, it has become possible for the Iona National Park to merge all these elements within the environment where the Namib Desert and the Atlantic Ocean meet. The reintroduction of the giraffe has become possible in its natural habitat due to the reintroduction that took place in 2023 and 2024, while more than 6,000 people have visited it by 2025. With regard to the tourists, there are a number of features that the area offers them, including giraffes, Welwitschia landscape, desert dunes, Atlantic coast, overland trail, and community conservation. The connection of Iona with the Skeleton Coast of Namibia widens its geographical location. As a result of new tourism opportunities, Iona has become the destination of those who want wildlife restoration, deserts, and coast within one national park.