1
Q
Namibia
A
- SW Africa
- sparsely populated
- dry climate
- 29% of 2.3 M people live below international poverty line of 1.25 dollars a day
- environmental degradation and sustainability are significant issue
- government debt to GDP ratio is 68.9%
2
Q
causes of degradation in Namibia
A
- mainly uncontrolled exploitation by a low-income population
- lack of management at all levels of government in earlier years
3
Q
Namibia’s Communal Conservancy Programme
A
- community-based natural resource management
- improving record for wildlife numbers and poverty reduction
- gives rural communities unprecedented management and use rights over wildlife
- created incentives for communities to protect valuable resources and develop economic opportunities in tourism
4
Q
The Conservancy Programme
A
- began 1996
- 64 community conservancies over 17% of the country
- embracing 1 in 4 rural Namibians
- community conservancies are legally recognised common property resource management organisations in communal lands
- rights include to hunt, capture, cull and sell huntable game
- government determines overall culling rate and established quotas for protecting game used for trophy hunting
- success: significant increase in the numbers of wildlife in conservancies after decades of decline
- NW: elephants doubled between 1982 and 2000
- from decline in illegal hunting and poaching due to economic value placed on wildlife pops
- new economic activities: contracts with tourism companies, selling hunting concessions, managing campsites, selling wildlife to game ranchers, selling crafts
- addition to traditional farming practices and subsistence level
- diversification of economic activity increased employment and income
- flexibility allows communities to choose strategies and work collectively
- support from and cooperation between a number of diff institutions: conservancies able to call on the experience of various NGOs for help and advice, The Namibian Community-based Tourism Association has been helping negotiate levies and income-sharing agreements with tourism companies,
- in 2006 conservancy income reached 19M ND, and small associated businesses another 8M
- important aspect of development: increasing employment of women
5
Q
community forests
A
- scaling-up process from one natural resource system to another
- based on forest act of 2001 the project helps local communities to establish their own community forests to manage and utilise sustainably
- important to include poorer people and share benefits
- about 4 M hectares burnt annually (fires started to improve grazing and clear hunting ground)
- villagers derive income by marketing forestry products
- Namibia has established community forests which give more power to local people and an opportunity for them to become actively involved in forest management, increasing the benefits of forest resources and increasing sustainability as communities want to be able to maintain the forests for future generations.
6
Q
country pilot partnership for integrated sustainable land management
A
- government identified land degradation as serious problem
- five gov departments with international agencies established CPPFISLM
- activities funded through Global Environment Facility in partnership w the United Nations Development Programme
- other organisations including the EU involved
- 2008-2011
- objective to develop a range of mechanisms for reducing vulnerability of farmers and pastoralists to climate change
7
Q
other stats
A
-Conservation areas such as national parks, communal conservancies and private reserves cover more than 40 per cent of Namibia’s land area
- Wood is the primary energy source for at least 60% of Namibia’s population
- 24 percent of children under the age of 5 stunted
- annual yield of water for the entire country is about 500 million m3 per year while demand is expected to reach 400 million m3 per year
- country imports up to 80 percent of its food
- 1.45% pop growth
