IRDNC is governed by a board of trustees who are appointed for a two year period, and re-appointed every two years. IRDNC’s board of trustees comprise:
Dr Malan Lindeque serves as Chairperson for the IRDNC Board of Trustees. He joined the IRDNC Board of Trustees in January 2019 following his retirement as the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry on Environment and Tourism. Dr Lindeque has a strong interest in the management of national parks and the conservation and management of wildlife as well as community-based natural resource management. He was the Permanent Secretary of Trade and Industry until 2015 and oversaw the reform of Namibia’s investment legislation, industrial development strategy and related instruments during his tenure. Dr Lindeque was also the lead negotiator for Namibia for the Economic Partnership Agreement between the European Union and the Southern African Development Community. He is also the Chairperson of Namibia’s Sustainable Development Advisory Council, a statutory body created in terms of Namibia’s Environmental Management Act as well as the Nature Conservation Board, established under the Nature Conservation Ordinance.
Adv. Andrew Corbett was the Director of the Legal Assistance Centre (LAC) from 1992 – 1999. The LAC carries out innovative legal work in the areas of human rights, land and environment, HIV/AIDS and labour reform. In addition to his current professional role as advocate, Adv. Corbett also holds a number of other board positions, including that of board member of the Namibia Nature Foundation and has served as an Acting Judge of the High Court of Namibia.
Clara Bohitile was a member of the National Assembly from 1995-2005 and again from 2007 - 2010. She also served as the Deputy Minister of Basic Education and Culture from 1995-2005. She is known in parliament for her contributions to rural development, adult education and basic education for the marginalized communities. Ms Bohitile is a member of the SWAPO Central Committee. She is also an aspiring commercial farmer, and was named as the Emerging Farmer of the Year for 2006 by the Namibian Agricultural Union. In September 2010, she made history when she was the first woman ever elected to chair the board of the Namibian Meat Corporation.
Honourable Beaven Munali is originally from Zambezi Region of Namibia, where he lives and was the Councillor of the Judea Lyabboloma Constituency and served as the Chairperson for the Zambezi Regional Council until his retirement in 2020. Whilst working for the Regional Council under the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development between 2015 and 2020, he focused on programmes that improve rural people’s standard of living, through creation of jobs, capital projects and creating enabling political and legal environments in Zambezi Region where over two thirds of the population are below the World Bank’s poverty line. He also worked as the Natural Resource Management Field Coordinator for IRDNC, between1991 and 2007, heading a team of field officers who provided technical and logistical support to the staff of Zambezi’s fifteen registered communal conservancies and one association. Prior to joining the national government, Honorable Munali served IRDNC as the regional Assistant Director between 2007 and 2015, and returned in 2017 to serve as a Board Member to date.
Ms Olga Katjiuongua joined the IRDNC Board of Trustees at the end of 2021. She is passionate about rural/community development and unlocking the potential of rural areas to create and sustain decent jobs. She has a growing passion in social protection as a human right. Olga has years of experience in community-based tourism and tourism development in general. She is presently working for the Namibian Social Security Commission leading the Development Fund which deals with employment creation and skills development initiatives aimed at transitioning unemployed persons into the labour market, especially those at grassroots level. Olga holds qualifications in Education, Accounting and Finance, as well as Social Security/Social Protection. She was a founding member of the Board of the Environmental Investment Fund (EIF) and the Water Regulator of Namibia, and currently serves on the technical advisory panel of the EIF. In her leisure time, she initiates and executes rural development programmes.
Mrs Hilma N. Angula joined the IRDNC Board in 2021. She is passionate about Natural Resource Management, Sustainable Development, and fostering partnerships to unlock the value of wildlife for enhancing people's livelihoods. She coordinates Government and Institutional Development support to community conservancies at NACSO. She holds a Master's in Conservation Leadership from the University of Cambridge, a Degree in Natural Resource Management from the University of Nelson Mandela and a Diploma in the same field from the Namibian University of Science and Technology. Throughout her 10-year working experience in the CBNRM sector, Hilma gained skills in community outreach, stakeholder engagement, youth mobilisation, women empowerment and wildlife monitoring. She has volunteered as a Grants Advisor under the Next Generation Climate Board of Global Green-grants Fund, securing small grants to support youth groups addressing climate change in southern Africa. She also serves as a board member of the Namibian Chamber of Environment.
Mr Asser Kaverua Ujaha joined IRDNC 15 years ago as an Enterprise Development and Holistic Rangeland Facilitator to Kunene community conservancies. In this position, one of his key performance areas has been to provide strategic guidance to conservancy communities in both tourism related enterprises and rangeland management. He played a key role in assisting conservancies in the north-west with joint venture agreements with private operators; a process which successfully reached 20 conservancies in Kunene having secured reputable business partners. Mr Ujaha currently serves the IRDNC Board of Trustees where he continues to share his wealth of experience in rural development in Kunene Region and across the country. He is currently works as a Manager at Roadside Lodge and Campsite at Hobatere in the Kunene Region.
John K. Kasaona, IRDNC Executive Director, and Willie Boonzaaier, the Programme Director, are ex officio board members.