Dorob National Park

Dorob National Park
IUCN category II (national park)
Map of park location in Namibia
Location	Namibia
Coordinates	22°55′40.26″S 14°33′51.98″E / 22.9278500°S 14.5644389°E / -22.9278500; 14.5644389Coordinates: 22°55′40.26″S 14°33′51.98″E / 22.9278500°S 14.5644389°E / -22.9278500; 14.5644389
Established	December 1, 2010
Governing body	Ministry of Environment and Tourism, Namibia

Dorob National Park ("dry land") is a protected area in Erongo, along the central Namibian coast, which is 1,600 kilometres (990 mi) in length. It was gazetted as a national park under the Nature Conservation Ordinance No.4 of 1975 on 1 December 2010, and with Namib-Naukluft Park covers an area of 107,540 square kilometres (41,520 sq mi).

The park extends from the Kuiseb Delta (south of Walvis Bay), north to the Ugab River, and west from the Atlantic Ocean to what was before the National West Coast Tourist Recreation Area. Some 75 species of birds flock to this coast, with nearly 1.6 million birds recorded on the coast.

Before the park was declared a national park, as part of the larger intent to create one continuous coastal protected area, it was called the Walvis Bay Nature Reserve under the Cape Department of Nature Conservation. After Namibia became an independent country, the reserve became a part of Namibian territory as part of the Walvis Bay enclave. There was a proposal to name the reserve as Walvis Bay National Park which proved fruitless and finally the central part of the coast area was named Dorob National Park. While the Walvis Bay Lagoon, a Ramsar Site, and the belt of dune and gravel plains that lie between the Swakop and Kuiseb rivers west of the Namib-Naukluft Park are included, Swakopmund, Henties Bay, and Wlotzkasbaken are excluded. Other exclusions are a railway line, certain road reserves of both major and minor routes, some district roads, as well as certain farms.

National Geographic said in June 2011 that "[w]ith the creation of Dorob National Park in December 2010, the coastline from the Kunene River on the Angolan border to the Orange River on the South African border was an almost solid barrier of parks. All the pieces were in place for what may eventually be designated Namib-Skeleton Coast National Park—a single coastal megapark."