WWF at Work in Namibia
Aug 13th, 2010 by wwftravel
Burchell's zebra drinking from a water hole at Etosha National Park, Namibia. © Martin Harvey / WWF-Canon
Today, Namibia is emerging as a conservation success story. WWF’s Living in a Finite Environment (LIFE) Project, in partnership with a range of Namibian civil and government organizations, has helped to make conservation a national imperative. As a result, numerous species are recovering. The LIFE Project is a model for the empowerment of communities who now have a say in their own destiny – and the potential to achieve conservation and community economic development on an unprecedented scale.
WWF’s projects include:
Increasing the involvement of women
Namibian women have traditionally been excluded from natural resource management because of the traditional role of women in Namibian society. WWF works with its Namibian partners to increase women’s influence over resource management and societal development decisions.
Encouraging the Namibian government to make conservation a priority
WWF works with the Namibian government to demonstrate the value that conservancies and wildlife represent to rural livelihoods, employment and sustainable land use. WWF also seeks to increase the benefits community members receive by helping expand community members’ rights over their conservancies.
Playing a game of cards to teach conservation in Kunene, Namibia. © Edward Parker / WWF-Canon
Accelerating the recovery of wildlife
Many conservancies contain vast tracts of prime wildlife habitat but significantly low populations of animals. With support from the Namibian government, WWF initiated a program to promote rapid recovery of wildlife populations through the capture and translocation of animals from national parks and private-sector donations to designated conservancies. This process is speeding up the recovery of wildlife populations and expediting the generation of income to conservancies from tourism and wildlife-related enterprises. This initiative has since become a national conservancy program that is now fully supported by the Ministry of Environment and Tourism.
Join WWF’s partner tour operator, Natural Habitat Adventures, on a Namibian Safari.
nice post, thanks for sharing. spectacular information ,
I just would like to add two other names Kenya & Tanzania are the ideal destinations for an African Herping Safari. They are home to a unique and diverse array of reptiles and amphibians including a variety of snakes, lizards, worm lizards, crocodiles, tortoises & turtles and frogs. There are over 400 species of reptiles in East Africa and over 275 of these occur in Tanzania
It is because of organizations like yourselves that Namibia is truly a wonderful country to visit. I believe that with the ongoing conservation efforts in Namibia through NGOs Namibia is going to stand out as an example of what can be achieved in conservation in an African setting.
Thanks for what towards conserving this countries natural heritage!