LANDSCAPE CONSERVATION
the inscription of the Namib Sand Sea as a World Heritage Site. It was inaugurated on April 6th, 2018 by the Minister of Education, Arts and Culture, Katrina Hanse-Himarwa. This has undoubtedly stirred more layers of interest and added value to the landscape, turning it into a tourism hotspot. On a practical note: ablutions were built at the 2x4 parking at Sossusvlei and members donated a 4x4 vehicle to the Sesriem Police Station that was established in 2014. On the conservation front: members coordinated annual landscape-wide game counts. They continued to process and capture scientific data, including climate, research, socio-economy, tourism and wildlife, amongst others. In collaboration with MET they established a data biodiversity project. Open lines of communication were built and maintained between the private and the government sector, as well as between conservation and farming associations (farmers associations, neighbourhood watches and individuals). Other projects included wildlife collaring as well as facilitating conservation education workshops, such as the vulture poisoning workshop. The workshop was facilitated by André Botha with the help and input from Liz Komen, and flights sponsored by Peter Keil. Members had
pulled together to host the workshop in response to a vulture poisoning incident in 2017. Attendance was impressive and since participants applied in practice what they had learnt, results were tangible shortly afterwards. • Owing to so many success stories the landscape was selected by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as a Finance Incubator project – an initiative in which the IUCN identifies areas/conservation organisations that will benefit and make use of financial assistance and guidance in order to achieve financial sustainability.
CHALLENGES AND THE FUTURE OF THE LANDSCAPE: •
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Health and social services remain an enormous challenge due to the area’s remoteness. Only a handful of nurses and paramedics have to cover a huge area in terms of accidents and emergency care. In terms of infrastructure, the gravel roads easily deteriorate due to the booming tourism industry and traffic in the area. Increased human habitation has led to other issues that needed addressing, such as ablutions and waste management. Educational options for the people who live and work in the area remain an obstacle, once again
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due to the remoteness. Namib Sky Community Trust started a school, Little Bugs, which serves the community and allows children from 3 to 8 to remain with their families and get a great foundation. Due to increasing traffic, speeding and misuse of the roads are becoming more common. On a positive note, however, the police officers at Sesriem have helped in curtailing some of these issues. A WhatsApp group for the community has been created, which has increased awareness and communication within the landscape. Natural migratory routes are blocked by fences, prohibiting animals from following ancient habits. Animals get stuck in fences and often die slow and painful deaths of starvation and dehydration. There is a need to end such suffering and to open the migratory routes again, which has led to a wildlife monitoring programme.
Can a sustainable financial future be ensured? Fortunately the IUCN has identified the GSNL as a viable project to assist with financial planning. The landscape coordinators will need to come up with strategies to increase member numbers and attendance at meetings in order to determine how the project will be carried forward. TNN
