Sky Eye Tours & Hospitality has called off its plan to construct and operate a motorised passenger transport system and a tethered helium balloon at Sossusvlei in Namibia’s Namib Naukluft National Park.

“The proposed train project at Sossusvlei is not going forward – reasons being financial and technical feasibility as well as the negative impact on the environment,” Laban Kandume, Sky Eye Tours & Hospitality spokesperson said in a statement.

In a meeting held recently, conservationists criticised the development amid concerns that it would change the essence of the place. “The Namib Dune Sea is a Unesco Natural World Heritage site. One Unesco criterion is ‘to contain superlative natural phenomena or areas of exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic importance’. Aesthetics and sense of place will be severely affected by this development. The status of the site must not be affected by the proposed project,” said one of the attendees.

Conservationists appealed for the project to be called off, suggesting instead that the 4x4 stretch of road could be improved through the introduction of better management practices, training of staff and operators, proper supervision and control (introduction of marshalls).

They further suggested improvements to the marking of the road and streamlining and co-ordination of access from the parking into the vlei areas, especially in peak season, as well as the improvement of ablution facilities.