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. For this reason, IRDNC’s Assistant Director for the Zambezi Region, Janet Matota, facilitated a workshop for the Chobe West Cluster Conservancies (Salambala, Nakabolelwa, Lusese and Sikunga) to empower women and build their confidence. IRDNC and the conservancies were honoured to welcome Lisa Johnson, the USA’s Ambassador to Namibia, in a visit to the workshop.

Addressing the workshop participants, Ambassador Johnson emphasized that “Wildlife crime is a critical threat to economic development. It undermines security and threatens legitimate economies. When we lose wildlife and security as a result of the illegal wildlife trade, we also lose the tools essential to fight extreme poverty.” The Ambassador also visited Wuparo Conservancy during a previous visit for an information-sharing session on wildlife conservation and development issues in conservancies.

IRDNC’s efforts to strengthen the involvement of women in combating wildlife crime is sponsored by the Combating Wildlife Crime in Namibia and the Kavango-Zambezi Area programme, which is funded by the U.S. Government through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). IRDNC is one of the implementing partners for this five-year initiative to combat wildlife crime in southern Africa.

Janet Matota, her team in the Zambezi Region, along with MET's Director of Wildlife and National Parks, Colgar Sikopo, and Josephine Ipinge who is responsible for Transfrontier work in MET also had the pleasure of hosting the German Minister of Economic Cooperation and Development, Dr Gerd Müller, while attending a Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area meeting.

Germany is one of Namibia's biggest donors, pledging around €130 million in support for the two-year period 2017/2018. This is done through the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), KfW Development Bank and the Federal Foreign Office who all have offices in Namibia. The priority areas of this cooperation are natural resources management, sustainable economic development and transport. Numerous initiatives and non-governmental organisations in Namibia, including IRDNC, have contributed towards the bilateral agreement.