South Africa has created a Radio Astronomy Reserve in the Karoo, around and west of the small town of Carnarvon in the Northern Cape province, and is currently developing the MeerKAT radio telescope array which, when it starts operation in 2013, will be one of the biggest and most important such instruments in the world.
In addition, the country is also bidding to host the international €1,5-billion Square Kilometre Array (SKA) radio telescope, which, if the local bid is successful, will also be sited in the Karoo reserve and incorporate MeerKAT. But whatever the decision regarding the siting of the SKA, South Africa is driving forward with its own MeerKAT programme, and is already reaping the benefits of creating the Radio Astronomy Reserve, so far attracting two other (admittedly much smaller but still scientifically important) radio astronomy projects to this country.
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