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Natural Resource Development : Related News Stories |
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| Partners | News | Success Stories | Links | Updated: 8/28/2006 |
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 PARLIAMENTARY STANDING COMMITTEE VISITS CONSERVANCIES - 2006/03/15
The Namibian Parliamentary Standing Committee on Economics, Natural Resources and Public Accounts, responsible for reviewing and making recommendations to Parliament on bills relating to economic development, natural resources management and financial accountability, recently undertook a trip to conservancies in the Kunene Region with support from USAID Namibia`s CBNRM and Democracy and Governance programs and local private sector partners.
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Six committee members, led by chairman Hage Geingob, the first Prime Minister of Namibia, were received by representatives at the Uibasen, Doro !Nawas and #Khoadi //Hoas conservancies. They provided an overview of the history of their conservancies and briefed the parliamentarians on previous achievements and the challenges facing their communities.
The delegation was very impressed with the concept of conservancies as such and the potential for replication. Key features that serve as models for other rural communities include the democratic governance structures and the resultant empowerment for sustainable development. They congratulated the conservancy leaders on contributing positively towards the upliftment of their people and urged them to remain focussed on having a vision in line with GRN policies and objectives. The parliamentarians also applauded the generally good cooperation and harmony that existed between private sector lodges and local inhabitants around joint ventures and urged them to not jeopardise these relationships through unnecessary conflicts. They encouraged all parties to maintain and strengthen such partnerships and to continue caring for the environment. |
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 FIELD GUIDE TRAINING PARTNERSHIP - 2006/01/26
USAID/Namibia and Wilderness Safaris Namibia/Namib Lodge Company (WSN) signed a Memorandum of Understanding in November 2003 marking the beginning of what became a most successful Global Development Alliance (GDA) partnership to train people interested in careers as professional field guides.
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A total of 271 candidates were trained in the 15 courses held during 2004/5, several of whom advanced to the higher training levels. 203 community members were trained, 45 of whom were women, giving them an opportunity to enter a hitherto male-dominated field.
All the courses were designed in such a way that they inspire field guide candidates to appreciate the diversity and wonders of the natural world, and promote the value of eco-tourism in Namibia. At the entry level, candidates were introduced to field guiding, the tourist/service industry and species identification. The intermediate level covered all aspects of nature and guiding, including species identification, animal behavior, conservation, environmental awareness, wildlife diseases, people and the land, communications, photography, astronomy, geology, and basic mechanics and driving skills. The Applied Field Guiding Certificate, which is an advanced field course for experienced guides, focused on bush camping, cooking, species identification, tracking, walking with dangerous game, and weapons handling.
This was the first training program of its kind, and thus contributed significantly to the development of field guide courses in Namibia, and raising awareness of field guiding as a profession. This training program responded to a clearly identified need within the Namibian tourism industry and proved so successful and integral that WSN has taken it upon themselves to continue the program with private sector resources beyond the initial USAID/WSN start-up phase. |
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 NAMIBIA PROCLAIMS MORE CONSERVANCIES - 2005/10/13
USAID has been the primary donor supporting the conservancy movement in Namibia over the last 13 years through direct funding and technical assistance through Government and NGO partners. On September 20, 2005, 11 new conservancies were formally registered, bringing the total number of those registered to 42. The amount of land under conservancy management has increased to 40,479 square miles (12.7% of the total land area of Namibia, and 33% of communal land area in Namibia) involving over 120,000 communal area residents. Rural communities living on communal lands are moving to attain legal rights over their natural resources with a view to better their living conditions. Communal area conservancies have become a very popular vehicle for attaining rights over wildlife, which has become a source of direct financial benefit in the form of trophy hunting fees, tourism revenues and a source of food. Conservancies have also become a mechanism to organize communities for better decision-making and collective management of their surrounding resources, including grazing for domestic livestock.
Link to map in .pdf format
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CONSERVANCY FIELD GUIDE TRAINING PAYS DIVIDENDS - 2005/08/05
Rosy is part of a new generation of guides in Namibia: a black woman in a profession previously dominated by white men. She sees field guiding as an opportunity to teach her people about sustainable conservation, and to act as an ambassador for her country. Rosy grew up in the rural Damaraland area near the well-known Damaraland Camp, owned by Wilderness Safaris Namibia (WSN), where her first opportunity at real employment (at the age of 34!) was as a housekeeper. She was in possession of a driver`s license, however, which gave her a foot in the door to field guiding. Doing airstrip pick-ups for the camp, she developed an interest in nature, and her enthusiasm attracted the interest of the WSN management. She was chosen to be fast-tracked into guiding. |
 Rosy attended a month long EcoTraining field guiding course in South Africa in 2003 (sponsored by a guest to the camp, and WSN) and then began to attend the courses run by WSN and jointly sponsored by USAID. She passed the Entry Level course in 2003, attended a number of sessions towards completion of the Intermediate Level, and in February 2005, successfully completed the Applied (Advanced) Level course which focuses on walking, weapons and tracking in areas of large game. Rosy has recently transferred to Wilderness Safaris’ newest lodge, Doro !Nawas, as senior guide, a respected position. This is a just reward for her dedication to training and to the profession. She regards the training opportunities provided by WSN/USAID as a dream come true. "Without their support, the profession would certainly be poorer,"she says. |
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 DAMARALAND CAMP WINS TOP CONSERVATION AWARD - 2005/04/28
The Damaraland Camp, a safari lodge located within the Torra Conservancy in remote northwest Namibia, was recently awarded the Tourism for Tomorrow Conservation Award 2005 at a ceremony at the Global Tourism Summit in New Delhi. The award is adjudicated by a panel of independent judges after on-site evaluation visits carried out by sustainable tourism experts from around the world. The Tourism for Tomorrow Awards recognize and promote the world`s leading examples of best practice in responsible tourism and was set up to encourage the travel industry to protect the environment.
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Ten years ago, the area around Damaraland Camp was in decline; there was no formal conservation protection, wildlife was in decline and unemployment within the local community was close to 100%. Today, with the implementation of a viable eco-tourism model supported by USAID/Namibia, around 180,000 hectares of land are under conservancy protection, wildlife is thriving and the local community has money in the bank and employment. Encouraged by this example, the neighbouring Doro Nawas Community has created its own 180,000-hectare conservancy.
Damaraland Camp lies 90 kilometres inland from Namibia`s Skeleton Coast. In the 1980s the Kunene Region experienced heavy poaching and drought. The once abundant wildlife populations were almost wiped out. USAID`s Living in a Finite Environment (LIFE) I activity, working with Integrated Rural Development and Nature Conservation, a local NGO, helped turn around this situation by directly involving the local community in conservation.
In 1996 Torra Conservancy entered into a joint venture with Wilderness Safaris by leasing a lodge site to the company to establish and run the up-market Damaraland Camp. Wilderness pays a percentage of its income to the conservancy and recruits lodge staff from the local community, helping to reduce unemployment in the area. Due to the progressive training policy negotiated in the contract, a local woman that was once a goat herder has risen to become manager of the luxury lodge, while other community members have been able to market their skills in other tourism areas. One of the poorest communities is now thriving and poverty has been alleviated directly through conservation and tourism. The result is a sense of pride and belonging in the community who now see their environment as being integrally linked to their future successes. |
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 NEW BUSHBLOK FACTORY BENEFITS CHEETAH - 2005/03/10
Four years ago, the U.S. Government through USAID granted the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) US$1 million to fund a habitat improvement program that would be ecologically and economically viable. Research identified a business opportunity to restore the Namibian savannah by processing encroaching bush into compacted logs for use as cooking fuel or home heating.
Bush encroachment adversely impacts underground water tables as well as species bio-diversity. One animal directly affected is the cheetah. Namibia has the world`s largest population of wild cheetah, with 95% living outside protected reserves on farmlands. Cheetahs hunt using bursts of speed in open or semi-open savannah. Thick bush hinders their hunt, and affects the biodiversity of prey species.
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Giving value to harvested bush will give farmers an economic incentive for habitat improvement. Since the 1950`s, bush encroachment of approximately 26 million hectares of woodland savannah has resulted in as much as 100% loss of land productivity. The loss of more than N$700 million per annum has had a direct impact on the livelihoods of 65,000 households in communal areas, and over 6,000 commercial farmers.
The Bushblok factory was officially dedicated on March 2nd, with Hon. Paul Smit, Minister of Agriculture, Water and Rural Affairs, Dr. Laurie Marker, CCF Founder and Executive Director, and Mr. Gary Newton, Mission Director of USAID officiating. Guests included representatives of several government ministries, members of the Otjiwarongo municipality, Namibian business leaders, local farmers and the media.
Bushbloks are made from chipped and milled intruder bush that is then compacted without any additives, using a powerful extrusion press. Each Bushblok is approximately the size of a building brick. The logs are so compact each burns for close to 1½ hours giving off intense heat. Bushblok logs are clean to handle, burn with almost no smoke, and are priced competitively compared with charcoal and coal.
A container of 24 tonnes is on its way to England — the first major delivery from this pilot project.
Dr Laurie Marker said that test market distributors have been lined up in Namibia, South Africa, mainland Europe and the United Kingdom. Full production has commenced and "..we hope the business will expand to become a major employer in the area as new entrepreneurs start supplying the factory with chips." |
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 WILDLIFE RETURNED TO RURAL NAMIBIA - 2004/12/30
The area of Uukwaluudhi in Namibia consists of flat plains dotted with small hills and once supported large numbers of wildlife including elephants. However, the spread of people and the war for Namibia`s independence from South African rule had reduced wildlife populations to a few springbok antelope, some ostriches and the occasional wandering elephant. King Hosea Taapopi of the Uukwaluudhi Traditional Authority wanted to restore the wildlife and also provide development for his people who are among the poorest in Namibia. Legislation passed by the Namibian government in 1996 enabled the people of Uukwaluudhi to form their own conservancy to manage wildlife and gain the economic benefits from tourism and hunting. However, in order to provide a platform for creating local jobs and other income generating opportunities, wildlife had to be restored to attract the tourists.
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The 30 year vision of a King to return wildlife to the plains north of Etosha National Park in Namibia, and bring development to his people was eventually realised with USAID support when the Uukwaluudhi Conservancy was officially launched in August 2004. King Taapopi had long dreamed of ensuring that his community`s children and grandchildren would again see wildlife on their traditional lands. In order to help the King and his people realise their dream, USAID provided technical assistance and financial support of US$120,000.
USAID supported the King and his people in forming a conservancy and in developing a core wildlife area so that wildlife could be re-introduced. The Namibian government responded by re-introducing 300 head of game including 31 rare black-faced impala and four endangered black rhino. Local people are employed by the conservancy as game guards to manage the wildlife and maintain the core area in cooperation with government game rangers. There are now plans to develop a tourism lodge so visitors can be accommodated close to the conservancy`s burgeoning wildlife. The lodge will provide jobs and income in an area where jobs are few and there is little cash. There will also be opportunities for local women to sell crafts to the tourists. With a relatively small investment USAID created the enabling environment for local people to reconnect with their wildlife heritage, stimulate economic development, promote of biodiversity conservation and develop partnerships between government and local residents. |
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 LIVING IN A FINITE ENVIRONMENT PLUS PROGRAM - 2004/11/02
On Monday 25 October, the LIFE Plus Program was launched. USAID, together with other donors, has been assisting Community Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) since 1993, and has produced remarkable results. Recent analysis by the Economics Unit of Namibia`s Ministry of Environment and Tourism reveals the dramatic national level impact of USAID`s investment.
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Between 1993 and 2003, USAID`s funding has leveraged more than 115% in support from a range of other donors to the sector. While donor funding peaked in 2002, economic returns and wildlife stocks are climbing rapidly. The total value of net national income (value of goods and services CBNRM economic activities make available to the nation) and increased capital value of wildlife from 1990-2003 amounts to approximately $60 million. This is an impressive development return relative to the total investment of $66.8 million thus far made by the donor community and government over the same period.
USAID/Namibia`s Director, Gary Newton, representing the U.S. Mission at the event, commended the Ministry of Environment and Tourism, World Wildlife Fund-U.S., the Namibian implementing NGOs, the private sector, and the local conservancy communities in their contribution to this major conservation and rural development strategy that contributes to national as well as global sustainable development goals.
LIFE Plus will:
· Build on the existing activities of the LIFE Project and continue to support conservancies;
· Expand the types of resources under community management and support the government in promoting integrated management of these resources;
· Focus more strongly on supporting business development within conservancies and on broadening the resource base on which new enterprises can be built;
· Support the Ministry of Environment and Tourism in promoting coordinated policy development and implementation across the Natural Resource Management sectors;
· Develop synergies with other major programs within our development assistance portfolio in Namibia. These programs include combating HIV/AIDS, strengthening local governance, supporting improved education and assisting private sector development;
· Cooperate closely with two other CBNRM projects launched on the same evening, the Integrated Community Based Ecosystem Management project, funded by the UN Global Environment Facility and administered by the World Bank; and the Integrated Rural Development and Nature Conservation project, funded by the World Wildlife Fund. |
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 RHINO HUNTING APPROVED BY WILDLIFE DELEGATES - 2004/10/13
Namibia was granted permission by international wildlife conservationists and government delegates to allow the trophy hunting of five endangered black rhinos annually. Authorization was given on Monday October 5, 2004, at a meeting of the U.N. Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in Bangkok, Thailand.
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| Namibia received overwhelming support because of its successful conservation efforts and pledges to hunt only older males, unlikely to reproduce,
and plans to use profits to help strengthen protection programs. The significance of the CITES decision is that Namibia has received international recognition for its success in rhino conservation, brought about partly by Community-Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) activities supported by USAID. The decision also reflects growing international recognition that in the developing world putting a market value on wildlife can actually help to conserve it. The number of rhino to be hunted is just a fraction of Namibia`s total rhino population which stands at more than 1100. |
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 USAID SUPPORTS EMERGENCY SEED DISTRIBUTION PROGRAM - 2004/09/02
Under a grant from USAID`s Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance, in response to an emergency declaration by Ambassador Kevin McGuire, 18 metric tons of mahango (millet) seed has been distributed to farmers in the Kavango Region who have been disadvantaged by two years of drought. The USAID program contributes to the Government`s comprehensive relief program intended to provide for the food and non-food needs of 642,000 Namibians affected by the ongoing drought.
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Distribution of seed in Kavango was carried out by a local NGO, Africare/Namibia, between the period January 5-23. Africare distributed two to four kilograms of seed to needy farmers identified by regional counselors, in coordination with the Office of the Governor. According to Africare representative, Kathy Chivuno, 6,205 farmers received emergency seed packets. Based on Africare follow-up visits, the majority of the seed had been planted prior to the end of January, which is considered the end of the optimal planting period. Mrs. Chivuno noted that the program is intended to complement the Government`s seed voucher program, under which 12 metric ton of seed is being distributed to needy farmers in Kavango.
On January 28, Deputy Assistant Administrator Garrett Grigsby, of USAID`s Washington-based Bureau for Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance, the office responsible for providing the grant assistance, accompanied U.S. Ambassador Kevin McGuire to Kavango to be briefed on the seed distribution program as well as general development needs within the region. Following a meeting with Kavango Governor Sebastian Karupu, Mr. Grigsby noted that "USAID is pleased to have been able to respond to the Government`s appeal for support. We anticipate that by providing seed to the region, Kavango farmers can now take advantage of what appears to be a good rainy season. We hope that our assistance helps restore food security within Kavango."During his visit, Mr. Grigsby also visited USAID project activities in the areas of HIV/AIDS, community-based natural resource management and basic education. |
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 NAMIBIAN CONSERVANCY WINS TOP AWARD - 2004/03/01
The residents of Torra Conservancy in Kunene Region have much to be proud of. They are conserving desert-dwelling elephants, some of the only black rhinos on communal land in Africa, endangered mountain zebra and a number of other wildlife species. They are using their wildlife sustainably to generate income to help reduce poverty in their conservancy. Now, as a result of their joint conservation and development successes, the residents of Torra have been honored by international conservationists. At the Seventh Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity,held in Malaysia recently, Torra and six other communities from around the world shared the Equator Initiative Prize. This is a United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) Prize that is awarded to communities from developing countries in the tropics that are successful in combining conservation of biodiversity and poverty reduction. The prize was shared with communities from Mexico, Colombia, India, Indonesia, Brazil and Tanzania. The winners were chosen from a total of 340 nominations. As their share of the prize, Torra Conservancy will receive US$30 000.
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Torra is on the edge of the Namib Desert and residents eke out an uneasy existence from livestock farming. However, since forming a conservancy in 1998 under government legislation, Torra Conservancy has been turning wildlife and tourism into major assets for the local community. They have negotiated an agreement with Wilderness Safaris for the operation of Damaraland Camp, a luxury tented lodge that brought the conservancy more than US$34 375 in 2003. They also sold some of their wildlife to freehold game farmers, which yielded US$11 875 for the conservancy and enabled them to donate a total of US$13 125 to two neighboring conservancies. A further US$14 500 was earned in 2003 from trophy hunting. The conservancy covers all its own operating expenses, including employing its own game guards who monitor the wildlife and help to stop poaching. As a result of its earnings, in early 2003 Torra paid out US$ 73 to each conservancy member, and it has used its wildlife money to support a local school and assist old age pensioners. The amount paid to conservancy members represents about 50% of average annual per capita income, and further highlights the economic and financial benefits of sustainably using natural resources.
Torra Conservancy has received considerable support from the Namibian NGO, Integrated rural Development and Nature Conservation (IRDNC). Both Torra and IRDNC are part of Namibia`s national Community-based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) program which is supported by the Living in a Finite Environment (LIFE) Project, funded by USAID, the Namibian Government and WWF-US. |
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 P/DAS BELLAMY VISITS KUNENE - 2003/02/28
During his recent brief tour to Namibia, State Department`s Mark Bellamy visited the north-west Kunene region to get a first hand view of the impact of the USAID supported National community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) Program and efforts in communal areas to regenerate wildlife, to economically empower the historically disadvantaged, to contribute to grassroots democracy, and to advance the status of women.
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 Bellamy, along with Ambassador McGuire and USAID Director, Diana Swain, visited two conservancies, Torra and Uibasen, both receiving benefits from joint ventures with private sector safari and lodge operators. Both lodges provide five-star accommodation, and hire a total of 80 people from the surrounding villages.
This was Bellamy`s first trip to Namibia as the Principal Deputy Assistant for the State Department for Africa Affairs. He was impressed with the work being done by USAID/WWF in the CBNRM movement in Namibia Because of the benefits that have come with tourism, conservancy members now have a stake in protecting wildlife and, as a result, wildlife numbers have rebounded significantly, and further revenues are being generated from live game sales to other conservancies. The P/DAS later spent the night at the conservancy upscale tent camp, which employs almost 20 community members, two of whom are in senior management positions.
Mr. Bellamy then visited the Uibasen Conservancy which, in a joint venture with Country Lodges, has a 112 bed lodge that employs over 60 community members. Conservancy members at Uibasen are still in the process of agreeing on a benefits distribution plan. Among the ideas on the table are buying a commercial farm, investing in a sister conservancy, or buying livestock for community members.
Both Torra and Uibasen demonstrated what the conservancies have done for the empowerment of women, with local women filling key management positions in the Torra Conservancy`s joint venture tent camp and women filling five of nine positions on the Uibasen management committee. |
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 BENEFITS DISTRIBUTED! - 2003/02/28
The news traveled fast. The Torra Conservancy was distributing benefits in the form of cash!! The Torra Conservancy Management Committee had kept their word! In early January 2003, each conservancy member over 18 years old was given N$ 630 or about US$ 73. The amount is equal to about half of average annual incomes in Torra Conservancy households. The committee purposefully chose January to distribute the funds, because school fees are collected in January, and it is the time parents buy new school uniforms and shoes for their children. Some members used their windfall to pay last year`s bill to the local water committee fund, which is used for the repair of equipment and infrastructure to protect water holes from the elephants. Since the rebound of elephants under the guardianship of local game guards and community members, elephants destroying water holes is not an uncommon experience. But it is one the community can now both handle and tolerate. The reason? Elephants bring tourists into the area and that means more money for the conservancy. |
Pictured is a young man with his two small brothers who are now in school, in part because of the cash contribution. He said he will definitely be signing up as a conservancy member when he turns 18 in April.
The funds distributed by the Management Committee were not the first time the community had benefited from the Conservancy`s operations. In the previous year, the Conservancy had been able to present the equivalent of US$ 2,000 to the local school. The committee also uses funds generated from Torra`s joint ventures with the private sector to pay all the costs associated with running the Conservancy. It plans in the future to invest in a new campsite and an upscale lodge. Torra Conservancy is pleased about their past and anticipate a great future.
Torra Conservancy is one of the 15 registered conservancies of the national Community Based Natural Resource Management Program. USAID supports the CBNRM movement through the World Wildlife Fund and the Namibia Nature Foundation. Five additional conservancies will be gazetted soon. Almost 30 other communities are in the process of establishing conservancies. |
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 PURROS CONSERVANCY WINS COURT CASE OVER COMMUNITY CAMPSITE - 2002/12/13
On October 17, 2002, the Purros Conservancy learned they were victorious in their court case against a community member. The High Court ruled that the Purros Conservancy and the Purros Community had legal ownership and control over the Purros Ngatutunge Pamwe Community Campsite. The High Court ordered the member to be evicted from the campsite.
This issue had its beginning in the early nineties, when the community members of Purros village applied for a Permission to Occupy certificate (PTO) to develop a community tourism campsite near Purros village. The PTO was issued to the Purros community represented by a single community member. At that time, the member was acting as the contact person for the campsite. When the campsite project started in earnest, he claimed that the PTO was issued to him in his personal capacity. He employed only his family members, which was contrary to the initial understanding of job creation for all members of the Purros community. When money generated by the campsite was not paid to the community, the community decided to close the campsite. The member then obtained a court order to reopen the campsite and carry on with his business.
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At this juncture, the Purros community, represented by the Conservancy, the headman and the heads of households launched an application in the High Court evicting the individual from the campsite on the basis that the campsite was registered in the name of the community and not in the personal name of the accused.
In October, the High Court ruled that the intent of the PTO (issued by the Ministry of Lands, Resettlement and Rehabilitation) was to the community (this was before the conservancy was registered) to develop tourism and derive income for the benefit of all members of the community. The Ministry of Environment and Tourism`s policy (and later the "Conservancy Act") encouraged the development of community-based tourism in communal areas, and therefore supported this action.
The coordinator of the NACSO Secretariat, Patricia Skyer, was pleased with the ruling, but added: "Ideally one would prefer to avoid the court route in the interest of healthy relationships, but obviously there is a limit to everything, especially when community rights are at stake."
The decision is an important case for Conservancies in Namibia. It provides for formal recognition of the Conservancy itself, while up-holding the role of the communities` traditional representatives, both the chiefs and headmen and the heads of households. This case also provides a base for Conservancies and heads of households to take on future issues representing their communities.
Visit the Purros webpage at http://www.nacobta.com.na/en/Projects/PurrosC.htm |
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 PATRICIA SKYER WINS INTERNATIONAL AWARD - 2002/07/30
Ms. Patricia Skyer, leader in Namibia`s CBNRM movement, has received worldwide recognition for her contributions to conservation. Patricia is the 2001 recipient of World Wildlife Fund`s Women in Conservation Recognition Award: Contribution of Women to the Conservation Field. This award celebrates important contributions made by young women in the field of conservation, especially those whose efforts have not yet been widely recognized and whose work is new and innovative. Patricia is currently the Secretariat Coordinator of the Namibian Association of CBNRM Support Organizations (NACSO), the national Community-Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) umbrella body. In her work in CBNRM over the past six years, she has gained immense respect in her tireless efforts to bring about real, tangible change for rural people though local management of their natural resource. Patricia makes a point of keeping in touch with issues at all levels from the grass root communities, NGOs and government to the private sector. This means that her work is always relevant, focused and based on the real issues facing people in conservation. Patricia is incredibly motivated in her work in CBNRM, and inspires her colleagues and partners in their own contribution to conservation in Namibia.
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 Patricia joined the CBNRM program in 1996 as the Community Development Officer for the USAID supported WWF`s Living in a Finite Environment (LIFE) Program. During this time she worked with San (Bushman) communities providing technical support and training to community-based organizations wishing to establish "conservancies". She also worked closely with local NGOs and government to lay the foundations for the implementation of the enabling legislation passed by the Namibian Government in 1996. Her efforts were rewarded when her work with the San group culminated in the legal registration of the 900,000 hectare Nyae Nyae Conservancy as the first and largest Namibian Communal Area Conservancy to be established (1998).
Patricia traveled to Washington DC to receive her award, which was also attended by Ambassador Leonard Iipumbu and Dr. Carol Culler, USAID/Namibia. Anna Davis, Namibia Nature Foundation, nominated Patricia for the award and accompanied her to Washington. |
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 NYAE NYAE CONSERVANCY: FIRST MILLION NAMIBIAN DOLLAR CONCESSION - 2002/05/13
Nyae Nyae Conservancy, the first conservancy gazetted in the CBNRM program in 1998, has just concluded negotiations with a trophy hunting company for a tender of over one million Namibian dollars. African Hunting Safaris submitted and won a tender for N$1,045,000 (approximately US$103,000) per year for the next five years with the Nyae Nyae Conservancy.
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In December 2001, the Nyae Nyae Conservancy, home of the San people, decided to terminate its hunting concession agreement due to general misunderstandings between both parties and a failure to honor contractual agreements. As a consequence, there was a need to re-tender the concession. At the same time, this presented an opportunity to revise the hunting quota. The Nyae Nyae Conservancy worked with the Ministry of Environment and Tourism to set a higher quota of over 11 species of wildlife for off take, based on the current numbers at Nyae Nyae. The new concession was bid by eight Safari Companies and was ultimately awarded to African Hunting Safaris, making the Nyae Nyae hunting concession Namibia`s first "Million Namibian Dollar Concession."
The re-tendering of this highly valuable concession reflects two major successes of the Namibians` CBNRM program. First Nyae Nyae community was empowered to terminate their concession with its current concessionaire, after it failed to meet contractual agreements. Secondly, following nine years of development and managing Nyae Nyae`s wildlife resources, the quota was substantially increased, allowing Nyae Nyae Conservancy to more than triple its annual income from last year. Neither of these events would have been possible without long-term USAID and LIFE programme support.
Nyae Nyae Conservancy is one of five conservancies in Namibia that have hunting concessions. Trophy hunting made up only 12% of the total revenues for the CBNRM program in 2001, but it is vital to some of the conservancies. This is particularly true for Nyae Nyae Conservancy, located off the major tourist route in Namibia. It is three hours off the paved road and ends at the Botswana border facing a high security fence. Nyae Nyae is Namibia`s largest conservancy at 9000 square km but with a low population density, an ideal environment for wildlife. The San have made major changes in their life-styles and no longer poach the wildlife. The have managed it well for use both as a food source and as tourism attraction which engages trophy hunters. |
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 AMBASSADOR MCGUIRE VISITS KUNENE CONSERVANCY PROGRAM - 2002/02/26
Ambassador Kevin McGuire, along USAID staff, traveled to Namibia’s breathtakingly beautiful Kunene Region to explore progress being made under the community based resource management program that USAID supports through the World Wildlife Foundation. The first stop was at the Twyfelfontein Country Lodge, an upscale facility built through a joint venture between Uibasen Conservancy and the private sector investor, Namibia Country Lodges. The lodge has 110 beds and the Conservancy receives a 10 percent levy for each bed occupied. Moreover, the lodge employs 70 people, most of whom come from villages in the conservancy. The Chair of the Conservancy, Elias Xoabub and the Managing Director of Country Lodges, Willem de Wet declared the joint venture a `win-win situation`.
The delegation then visited the Torra Conservancy where they met with the newly elected conservancy management committee. |
The committee was proud of the highly popular tent camp it owns in partnership with Wildlife Safaris and the fact that Lina Florry, a woman from the community, is now taking over management of the camp. Committee members also boasted of the rebounding wildlife populations that are occurring in their area and attributed the increases to the fact that community residents now have a stake in protecting the wildlife and can afford game guards to ensure that proper protection is provided. Early the morning after the meeting, the game guards took the Ambassador on a tracking expedition, the highlight of which was spotting a black rhino, a rare species which roams freely only in Namibia. Like their colleagues in Uibasen, the Torra Conservancy is financially self-sufficient and its bank account is swelling to the point at which in can make social investments in the community. Recently it donated US $2,000 to the local school.
Of the 15 registered conservancies nation-wide, nine are in the Kunene region. Another 13 communities in Kunene are in the developmental stages of registering. According to Margaret Jacobsohn, co-director of the IRDNC, a local NGO assisting the conservancies, Kunene will soon be "a protected area where wildlife can roam throughout the whole region, just like they did 100 years ago." |
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 CHEETAH PROTECTION ACTIVITY IS UNDERWAY - 2001/10/16
The Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF), of Otjiwarongo, signed a US$1 million grant with USAID/Namibia for a three-year program, beginning October 1, 2001. This grant is aimed at benefiting the cheetah in Namibia through promotion of awareness of conservation issues, the education of farmers and the improvement of habitat. CCF`s Director, Laurie Marker, and General Manager, Bruce Brewer, were pleased that USAID could assist them in this project of keeping the cheetah in its natural habitat in central Namibia while reducing damage to livestock on nearby farms. |
CCF plans to remove encroaching bush on the commercial farms to benefit both livestock and the cheetah. Selected bush will be harvested and chipped before being pressed into logs. Because the logs will be eco-friendly and carry a special cheetah brand, they are expected to sell well in European markets, Ms. Marker explained. Each log sold will bring back money to the CCF for further education and research on cheetahs in Namibia and in the Southern African region.
This process is expected to establish a sustainable business that helps to develop a group of new entrepreneurs in the various components of the harvesting, chipping, pressing and marketing sectors. It will also employ many local residents while providing a continual source of revenue for education and research at CCF.Bruce explained that this project has been in the planning stages for over three years and he is eager to start bush harvesting, which he says, will be conducted in a sustainable manner. Thinning the bush will allow more grazing space for both cattle and wildlife species in the area. The cheetah will also be able to capture prey more easily, if it has open spaces in which to run. The cheetah is an endangered species with only about 15,000 individuals in the wild. Namibia has the largest remaining population of free-ranging cheetah in the world, estimated at 2,500, of which 90% live outside of protected reserves. Commercial farmers perceive the fate of cheetah as a threat to their livestock and so kill or remove them from their land. CCF is educating the communities in livestock management techniques, which are sensitive to both the farmer`s needs and the cheetah`s survival. |
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 PATRICIA BREAKS THE GENDER BARRIER - 2001/09/07
Patricia Witbooi has become the first female Game Guard for the Tsiseb Conservancy in the Kunene Region. The conservancy is one of 16 established through USAID support under its Life II project, implemented by WWF. Over 200 applicants applied for the positions. She and her colleagues underwent intensive training on tracking wildlife, record keeping and living in the bush. Following the training, Patricia was appointed as one of the six Game Guards for the Tsiseb Conservancy. |
| Her supervisor praised her enthusiasm and her work, "She can do anything the men can. She goes on regular patrol and keeps good records." Poaching of small game by the locals is a major problem in the Uis area, where unemployment rates have been high since the closing of the Uis mine. But the Conservancy plans to increase tourism in the area by making the Brandberg Mountains the center of its many attractions. Patricia said, "It is time for (gender) equality and I am happy to be selected as a Game Guard."A designated area for wildlife should promote an increase in game numbers. Patricia and the other Game Guards identified a need for the provision of two-way radios because of the vast areas they have to cover and the need to communicate with each other when on patrol.Note: Tsiseb Conservancy was registered March 7, 2001 with 1240 conservancy members and an area of 808,300 hectares. |
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 TOURIST ATTRACTION BENEFITS PREVIOUSLY DISADVANTAGED COMMUNITY - 2001/07/10
Spitzkoppe is a granite massif jutting over 5,900 feet into the air above the Namib Desert. Against this inspiring backdrop, there is squalor. Nearby is a tiny, impoverished community of about 600 people, forcibly resettled there when Namibia was under control of the former apartheid regime of South Africa. The desert land makes meaningful agricultural activity impossible and Spitzkoppe is distant from other potential sources of employment. |
 Realizing the tourism potential of Spitzkoppe, the community formed the Spitzkoppe Community Development Association (SCDA) to run a campsite. Each camper pays the equivalent of US $3.00 per night. By the economic standards of the community, the campsite was a boon. In 2000 about 4,000 campers came. It was a good start. But considering the spectacular nature of the massif, Spitzkoppe`s potential was far from being realized.
In 1999, the USAID-supported World Wildlife Fund and the Namibia Community-Based Tourism Association assisted SCDA to solicit proposals for further development. Training and other assistance was given to help SCDA increase its expertise in management, business planning, negotiating, and tourism. In June 2001, an agreement was signed with a developer to create an upscale lodge. Through the lease and other payments it will receive, the community will significantly increase its income. There will be expanded opportunities for local enterprise to supply goods and services to the lodge and its customers. Catering to very different clienteles, the lodge will complement the campsite. Campers will have access to the lodge`s food and beverage services, increasing the attractiveness of and revenues from the campsite. Because of the lodge, there is the opportunity to develop a viable local economy as formerly unemployed community members, themselves, are able to demand more goods and services.
Beyond revenues from day-to-day operations,
the lodge owner is committed to investing
in the community. Employees will receive
training, including a degree program for a
community member to become one of the
lodge`s managers. Moreover, in recognition
of the cooperative nature of the effort,
in fifteen years, the community will receive
a 25 percent equity share in the lodge. |
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 TRIP TO NYAE NYAE CONSERVANCy - 2001/05/23
In cooperation with the Ministry of Environment and Tourism and a range of Namibian NGO`s, USAID is supporting Namibia`s community-based natural resources management (CBNRM) program. It is designed to give communities in the communal areas of the country the means to manage wildlife and other natural resources in a sustainable way. The program has generated nearly US$1 million for communities since its inception. |
 USAID Director Diana Swain, along with U.S. Ambassador Bader`s wife, Rohini Talalla, and USAID staff Shereen Pieterse and Kosie Blaauw, recently visited the Nyae Nyae conservancy. The group was accompanied by Chris Weaver of the World Wildlife Foundation (WWF), Nyae Nyae Conservancy Manager, Kxao Moses, and Beverly Carpenter of the British Voluntary Service Organization (VSO).
In 1998, Nyae Nyae, with a membership of 620 Ju/`hoan Bushmen (and women), became the first conservancy to be registered in Namibia, and, several months later, became the first one to enter into a contract that allows a safari company to bring in clients to hunt agreed-upon types and numbers of game. The original contract has since been re-tendered and, along with donations of
game from the safari company, earns the conservancy approximately US$30,000 per year in cash. These funds are used to cover operating costs and to pay dividends to Conservancy members. When asked how they spent their dividends, members indicated they bought food and clothes for their children. The Ju/`huan Bushmen live in extreme poverty and described problems they face with the education of their children, the poaching of game, and pressure from non-residents who want to graze cattle in the conservancy, to the visitors. Through the program, conservancy members are gaining knowledge and experience in making decisions that affect their future and the wildlife in the conservancy area is being managed in a way that directly benefits the bushmen and, at the same time, enhances the sustainability of the area`s natural resources. |
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 ECO-BUSINESS AND CHEETAH CONSERVATION IN NAMIBIA - 2001/04/02
As part of a U.S. Congressional mandate for environmental protection this year, USAID and a Namibian NGO, The Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF), have begun discussions on a program that will help protect cheetah habitat in Namibia. |
| The Namibian Mission and the regional legal advisor from USAID`s Regional Center for Southern Africa (RCSA) recently visited CCF`s headquarters near Otjiwarongo to discuss a preliminary CCF concept paper for USAID funding. As currently anvisioned, $ 1 million in USAID funding will help CCF start an innovative eco-business project to reduce bush encroachment and generate a new source of income for community residents and small farmers. |
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