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. The OPP includes Ehivoripuka and Omatendeka Conservancies, which are the founding members alongside the Ministry of Environment and Tourism (MET).
With support from IRDNC and the Kunene Regional Communal Conservancy Association (KRCCA), representatives from these two founding conservancies hosted an exposure trip within the proposed park area in May in order to familiarize stakeholders with the park area, its potential tourism sites, its challenges, its opportunities, and to ultimately gain their support for the concept. Trip participants included government officials, traditional leaders, and representatives from the recently set up Women in Conservation group.
The group experienced first-hand the drought and its impact on the area’s environment, illegal settlers allowing their cattle to graze within the proposed park’s core wildlife areas, and human-wildlife conflict due to the livestock presence in those areas. They engaged in insightful discussions with resident communities about their challenges and have developed a better understanding of - and support for - the proposed park’s vision.
The visitors also learned about ways to combat climate change through livelihood diversification, found out the income projections for the park and plans to protect a wildlife corridor and build local capacity of conservancies’ members. Capacity has already begun to be built in the park’s development stage, whereby conservancy members and supporting organizations have been active in the process of negotiations and consultations. Once the park is operational, employment and skills will be created for the conservancies’ members at tourism sites and lodges in the park. Such opportunities from the OPP are exciting for the conservancies, Kunene Region, and the Namibian nation.
IRDNC’s involvement with the OPP encompasses four of IRDNC’s strategic goals:
Everyone who attended the trip walked away with a greater grasp on what the Ombonde People’s Park is and are enthusiastic about its future. Conservancy members, visiting stakeholders, traditional leaders, IRDNC, and KRCCA were all part of meaningful discussions throughout the trip, including a final meeting in which the next steps for the project were brainstormed and outlined. The exposure trip served as a learning experience that allowed for the active participation of key regional stakeholders, further establishing the community-driven approach of the development of the Ombonde People’s Park.