Conservation that works begins with people. These are their stories.
Reintroduction of Giraffes in the North West Conservancies Stradling the Escarpment
Namibia has demonstrated a commitment to conservation from its foundation. After attaining its independence in 1990, from South Africa’s then-apartheid government, the new country embedded a focus on natural resources, healthy ecosystems, and biodiversity for the benefit of both people and wildlife directly into its constitution.
Sharing Space
The sounds of squabbling baboons and squawking guinea fowl greet Tjavarekua Tjijahura as she rises to prepare break - fast and break camp. She is wearing the traditional clothes of Ovaherero women—petticoats, a voluminous dress with vibrant patterns, and a hornlike headscarf that pays homage to part of her identity: The Ovaherero people are historically cattle breeders, and raising livestock is a common way of life.
Unsung Heroes of the Field: Safeguarding Rhinos in Kunene
In the vast expanse of Kunene, where black rhinos roam freely in communal conservancies, a remarkable team of unsung heroes are tirelessly working to protect these majestic creatures. The success stories we witness today are the direct result of the unwavering commitment and collaboration between the conservancies, local communities, Namibian Police (Nampol), Save the Rhino Trust (SRT), and the dedicated Rhino Support Team from the Integrated Rural Development and Nature Conservation (IRDNC).
Conservation Hero Shines Bright: Ritjeuavi Tjiningire
In the heart of Etanga Conservancy, an unsung hero is making waves with his unwavering dedication and remarkable achievements. Ritjeuavi Tjiningire is a true force to be reckoned with in the field of conservation. This young, energetic, and trustworthy field officer has captured the hearts of his colleagues and is leaving an indelible mark on the landscape.
Corridors of the future
“How many people have had a dangerous encounter with an elephant?” I asked. Of the fourteen Sobbe Conservancy members in the room, six people raised their hands. “How many of you know someone who has been killed by an elephant?” All 14 people raised their hands. Turns out, they all knew the same person, a Sobbe Conservancy member, who had met some friends at a local village.
WILDLIFE CORRIDORS - Paths of connection and hope
From the air, Namibia is a maze of paths – some start as wide “animal highways” and merge into a single track before trailing off into dust, while others are long and deep, etching a path that crosses rivers, borders and memory. The generational knowledge of where they lead and why they exist is known by a myriad of species from elephants to ants, and also the people who live alongside these wildlife corridors.
Wildlife Credits - Innovation in conservation by and for Namibians
Innovation is a hallmark of conservation in Namibia, from the establishment of communal conservancies that devolve rights to communities to manage and benefit from natural resources, to rhino custodianship in communal lands, to scientific firsts in the fields of primatology, elephant communication and desert ecology.
Conservation Relief, Recovery and Resilience Facility (CRRRF) - Quarters 4-8
COVID-19 has devastated the global economy in all sectors that contribute to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of many countries. Tourism is the third largest economic sector in Namibia on which the communal conservancies’ areas depend.
A new approach to landscape level management and smart partnerships
Integrated Rural Development and Nature Conservation (IRDNC) has adopted two approaches to augment Community-Based Natural Resource in Namibia. This includes adopting a landscape level management approach that increases effectiveness and efficiencies and initiating smart partnerships where IRDNC’s own resources and capacities are inadequate in fulfilling conservancy support needs.
COVID-19 Conservation Relief, Recovery & Resilience Facility (CRRRF)
On the 5th May 2020, the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism (MEFT) Launched the Conservation Relief, Recovery and Resilient Facility (COVID-19 Facility). The Facility aims to provide financial relief to CBNRM institutions affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
COVID-19 awareness in Kunene Region
The Kunene Region of Namibia is in the far north-west corner of the country, and widely covered with a rough mountainous landscape. This type of geography makes it hard to access and develop. Tourism is the key development sector for the Region, due to its pristine environment, wildlife, and rich culture.
Women for Conservation Association – an organisation of women supporting nature conservation in Namibia
Women in the developing world are predominantly responsible for management and conservation of resources for their families. Women spend vast amounts of time collecting and storing water, securing sources of fuel, food and fodder, and managing land.
Payment for Ecosystem Services in Namibia – Leveraging Conservation Funds for High Value and Endangered Species
Human-wildlife conflict is a prevalent challenge to conservation in almost all protected areas with game species. This is especially true for conservation areas neighboring human habitats, most of which protected areas in Namibia are. Benefits from wildlife tourism such as sector employment, training and entrepreneurship opportunities, etc., has often helped with communities’ tolerance towards predator and other species threatening their livestock and crops.
Lion Rapid Response Team established in Chobe River conservancies
The Botswana-Namibia border is delineated by the Chobe River, with the Chobe National Park on the Botswana side offering a safe refuge for wildlife, and mixed-use conservancies on the Namibian side hosting wildlife and livestock areas. When large predators cross the Chobe River into communal grazing lands, they cause fear amongst local farmers.
The Khwe Traditional Knowledge Centre development in Bwabwata National Park
The Bwabwata National Park (BNP) situated along the north-eastern strip of Namibia is one of the few parks in southern Africa with communities permanently living inside a national park. The park was first proclaimed as the Caprivi Game Reserve in 1966, upgraded to the Caprivi Game Park in 1968 and finally the BNP was proclaimed in 2007.
Building community support for conservancies in the Kunene Region
In an effort to build awareness and support for conservancies amongst leading community elders in the northwest, more than 20 elderly farmers, most of them traditional authority members from Anabeb, Sesfontein and Purros Conservancies, participated in wildlife retreats.
Namibia Chamber of Environment (NCE) Drought Relief work support to Communal conservancies
The Kunene Region where IRDNC pioneered Community-Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM), is the third poorest region in the country, with a poverty rate of almost 40%. The Kunene, comprising of 115,260 km² and 88,300 inhabitants, had an unemployment rate of 36% of the labour force according to the 2011 national census.
Desert Lion conservation in Namibia’s communal conservancies
In Northwest Namibia, in the Namib Desert area west of Etosha National Park, is one of the few places where lion numbers have increased on communal land in the last 20 years. This local population is particularly unique to have adapted survival tactics in the inhospitable desert environments.
IRDNC during the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns and travel bans has led to adverse economic effects globally. In Namibia, the tourism sector which community-based organizations in Namibia depend on for income has been severely affected. Conservation and tourism activities came to an instant halt, including essential anti-poaching activities and wildlife monitoring.
An African Conservation Hero, Garth Owen-Smith 1944 – 2020
Garth Owen-Smith, IRDNC’s co-founder and a great African conservation visionary with global recognition as a pioneer in community conservation, died on 11th April after a long battle with cancer. His life and co-founding partner of 36 years, Dr Margie Jacobsohn – IRDNC’s board chair, was at his side.
Working to keep lions in the Kunene
The past six month were characterized by a prolonged and crippling drought in the Kunene Region. The socio-economic impact on local farmers and residents within this area cannot be underestimated. Subsistence farmers who were living hand to mouth have lost vast amount of stock due to drought in the region.
Cash-for-Work Project for Drought Relief in Kunene Region
IRDNC strives to improve the lives of rural people by diversifying the socio-economy in Namibia’s communal areas to include wildlife and other valuable natural resources. The Kunene Region where IRDNC pioneered community-based natural resource management (CBNRM), is the third poorest region in the country, with a poverty rate of almost 40%. The Kunene, comprising of 115,260 km² and 88,300 inhabitants, had an unemployment rate of 36% of the labour force according to the 2011 national census.
Human-elephant conflict management in north-western Namibia
North-western Namibia holds an important population of elephants in an arid to hyper-arid area where people and wildlife compete for scarce resources, often leading to human-wildlife conflict. IRDNC’s Human-Wildlife Support Unit in the region has increased tolerance amongst local farmers and residents towards elephants, as well as lion, but conflicts need to be mitigated to avoid further retaliatory killings.
Unlocking the tourism potential of the Chobe River
The Chobe River forms the boundary between Namibia and Botswana and provides critical access for dry season wildlife watering. Herds of elephant and buffalo move between the woodlands of Botswana’s Chobe National Park and the vast grassland floodplains across the river in Namibia and a thriving tourism industry has developed. Thanks to the Chobe National Park, Botswana has infrastructure for a major tourism industry in the Kasane – Kazungula area.
Kunene local government supports communal conservancies
For many years the Kunene Regional Council has recognized the contribution conservancies made to the local economy and have long been supportive of community-based natural resources management. The Regional Council recently donated construction material worth over N$ 75,000 to support the development of a community campsite at Okozonguehe village in Orupupa Conservancy.
IRDNC joins national drought relief efforts
Since the early 1980s, IRDNC’s purpose has been to link conservation to the social and economic development of the people who live with wildlife and other valuable natural resources. With permanent field teams in the Kunene and Zambezi Regions, IRDNC observed the distressing effect of drought hitting communal conservancies and rural farmers in both regions with great concern.
IRDNC concludes Transboundary Forum registrations in the KAZA Region
Since the 1990s community-based natural resource management has taken off in Namibia’s north east, with the establishment of communal conservancies and community forests. With flourishing wildlife numbers and tangible benefits to rural communities over the years, regrettably there was also a gradual increase in illegal harvesting of natural resources, mainly wildlife poaching, which robs rural communities of huge potential benefits.
IRDNC’s Kunene Northern Highlands Tourism Project
Namibia was named the top travel destination in the world and received the Wanderlust Reader Travel Award in London early this year, an award Namibia has also received in 2014. The Kunene Region of Namibia has increasingly become a tourist destination in Namibia, with mostly self-drive tourists and safari operators passing through mountainous pristine environments rich in wildlife and culture.
The Chobe Wildlife Cup
Chobe East is made up of three communal conservancies – Impalila Island, Kabulabula and Kasika – which are located in the furthest eastern floodplains of the Zambezi Region in Namibia. Chobe East is the at the heart of the Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area’s landscape in that it is known to be the only area “where four countries meet” – Namibia, Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Conservancies make an impact on rural development and nature conservation
This year marks the 35th anniversary of the Community-Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) movement in Namibia. Namibia should not only celebrate the incredible recovery of wildlife number in areas where they formerly perished (and near extinct as in the case of the black rhino) but also becoming a model for much of Africa and the world in turning wildlife into an economic asset for rural communities.
IRDNC adapts its organisational structure to improve service delivery
IRDNC prides itself in being at the grassroot level with communities in rural areas, empowering communities to form legal community-based organisations and being their support in conservation and rural development for the past 35 years.
Namibia’s first large-scale voluntary park
The Ombonde People’s Park (OPP) will be Namibia’s first large-scale voluntarily established protected area, aiming to maintain biodiversity while developing socio-economic opportunities for the area’s residents through tourism and the sustainable use of wildlife.
Further mitigation measures in reducing conflict with lions in Kunene
IRDNC Kunene’s Human-Wildlife Support (HWS) Unit continues to focus on preventing and mitigating human lion conflict (HLC) in northwest Namibia. Between October 2018 and March 2019, the team has prioritized reducing livestock losses and fostering positive relationships with farmers and other stakeholders such as the Ministry of Environment and Tourism (MET), traditional leaders, and tourism industry operators.
Integrating Wildlife Management and Livestock Production through Rangeland Management
Livestock are an integral part of people’s livelihoods in the Zambezi Region. But people do not depend only on livestock – and there are multiple other competing land-uses including, human settlements, forestry, tourism, fishing, wildlife corridors, core wildlife areas, cropping, and hunting, all of which bring benefits as well as competition for scarce and pressured resources.
USA Ambassador to Namibia among several dignitatories visiting IRDNC
Women have traditionally not been included in efforts to curb wildlife crime. Yet they know their areas intimately and observe the movement of wildlife around their villages. They are often the first to encounter strangers in their communities or to be pressurized to collaborate in illegal activities. As the first line of defence to protect their wildlife against poaching, they are critical partners in efforts to end wildlife crime.
Reducing human-lion conflict in the Kunene Region
In what may seem paradoxical, lions can thrive during droughts. As grazing reduces, antelopes and livestock congregate in areas with remaining grazing and water, and become easy prey. Over seven consecutive years, a drought has ravaged the already dwindling herds of the Kunene farmers’ cattle, sheep and goats.
Expanding the voice of communities in the Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area
The Zambezi Region of Namibia is positioned right at the centre of the Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA TFCA), dividing the area into almost two equal parts. The Zambezi Region therefore plays a pivotal role in the TFCA, providing migration routes for wildlife and creating a framework for connectivity between conservation areas in Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
IRDNC and partners receive the 2018 William G. Conway International Conservation Award for Black Rhino Conservation in Namibia
IRDNC, with the Ministry of Environment and Tourism (MET), Save the Rhino Trust (SRT), Namibia Nature Foundation (NNF) and three North American zoos; Minnesota, Houston and North Carolina Zoo, were jointly awarded this year’s William G. Conway International Conservation Award (Top Honours) for scaling up community-based rhino conservation in Namibia.
Opuwo Rhino Cup on World Rhino Day 2018
One of the benefits of sports tournaments for a small town like Okanguati in the Kunene Region is the formation of stronger neighbourhoods and more wholesome communities, evident in the 14 soccer teams of 22 players each and 7 netball teams of about 14 players each participating in this year’s Rhino Cup in Opuwo.
Seen on the banks of the Hoanib River...
For those wondering what Prince William did during his fleeting visit to Namibia, here are some of the highlights from his field expedition. Travelling with Charlie Mayhew, CEO of Tusk Trust, he and his party flew north-west from Windhoek to the Hoanib River for an evening at Natural Selection’s newly opened Hoanib Valley Camp.
Lion Ranger Training by IRDNC’s Human Wildlife Conflict (HWC) Response Unit in Kunene Region
The week of 4 – 11 March 2018 had twelve Lion Rangers, three field coordinators, two researchers, and three IRDNC staff members gathered at Wereldsend to formally inaugurate and begin operations of the Lion Ranger Program. The programme, consisting of both the classroom ecology lesson and field practice, is spearheaded by our recently formed Human Wildlife Conflict (HWC) Response Unit in Kunene Region.Progress on the Livestock-Wildlife Integration in Communal Conservancies – Pilot study in Dzoti Conservancy
The Livestock / Wildlife Integration Project was initiated in April 2017 with the aim of reducing potential conflict between different land uses in conservancies, such as between livestock grazing and tourism development, between livestock and predators and competition for grazing between livestock and wildlife. Funded by a philanthropic family via WWF, the project intends to introduce sound rangeland management practices in conservancies that will consider and mitigate against the conflict between livestock, wildlife and wild-life based tourism. IRDNC is currently piloting the project in Dzoti Conservancy in Zambezi Region.
Leaders across north-west Namibia Pledge to Protect Rhinos
“Are you prepared to do whatever you can to help protect our rhino?” These were the words of Omusati Hon. Governor Erginus Endjala to a diverse crowd of more than 50 Tradition Authorities, regional councilors, law enforcement officers, teachers and conservation officials who came together in early December to learn more about the crisis facing Namibia’s rhinos.
