evidence: The Southern Namibian landscape is a mesmerizing geological mosaic that is home to rock dating back two billion years. It is a truly ancient world in which the elements of wind and rain have carved a kaleidoscope of colour and shape from the rock, with the life-giving Orange River flowing through the middle. The Orange River is 2,200 km long, the fourth longest river in Africa that drains almost 50% of southern Africa, and has a heightened role in providing the only perennial water source through the 500,000 km2 of desert environment that spreads across southern Namibia and north-western South Africa. This landscape is known as the "Karoo", which is derived from the Khoisan word meaning "land of thirst". The Succulent Karoo, one of the world’s 25 biodiversity hotspots, the Nama Karoo and Desert biomes all meet here making the area an ecotone, a catalyst for evolution. Despite the importance of this landscape, ORKCA is the only privately protected area to host this type of ecotone, and less than 1% of the Nama Karoo is formally protected.