Germany, MET boost park management in North

This programme is co-funded by Namibia and Germany in support of the Namibian Government’s development and conservation initiatives in north eastern Namibia.

On behalf of the German Federal Government, German Development Bank KfW co-finances the construction of the Park Management Stations in Bwabwata and Mudumu National Park with N$27,7 million, while the Ministry of Environment and Tourism contributes another N$9,7 million.

The construction includes staff housing, offices, tourist receptions and access roads and services such as electricity, sewerage and water.

According to a press release the new stations complement the construction of the Mahango station, done two years ago, which was the first state-of-the-art park management station of the Bwabwata Mudumu Mamili (BMM) Parks Project..

The efforts of the Namibian-German co-operation to develop the Bwabwata Mudumu Mamili Parks are improving the effectiveness of park management. This in turn has a positive effect on wildlife numbers and the experiences of visitors, which bring considerable benefits to the region and, in particular, to local communities.

Through tourism and hunting projects undertaken by neighbouring and resident communities more than N$15 million in benefits for locals have been generated, which is directly linked with the successful management of these parks.

The Bwabwata Mudumu Mamili Parks are considered a model for integrated park management. This management approach means that the Ministry of Environment and Tourism (MET) manages the parks as open systems with due consideration and participation of neighbouring and resident communities and other relevant stakeholders. Through their active involvement and subsequent benefits, the communities also take a vested interest in the protection and wellbeing of the parks.

The official ground breaking of the two new stations took place on Thursday at Susuwe in the Bwabwata National Park, Caprivi Region, and was done by the Minister of Environment Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah.
It was also attended by German Ambassador Egon Kochanke, the governor of the Caprivi Region and representatives of the Traditional Authorities and KfW.

KfW provides support for the development of Namibia’s north eastern national parks as part of the support to the focal area of “Natural Resource Management” – one of the three main German-Namibian Co-operation Areas.

This is also in line with the North East Parks Programme that was initiated in 1995 by the MET to foster both nature conservation and socio-economic development in the Kavango and Caprivi regions. Germany has therefore committed approximately N$260 million to continue its support of National Parks in Namibia in close co-operation with the MET.