Shifeta urges conservancies to be financially stable

Shifeta urges conservancies to be financially stableOSHAKATI Environment minister Pohamba Shifeta has urged all communal conservancies and community forests to be financially sustainable.Shifeta there are now 86 registered communal conservancies, 43 community forests and two community associations in Namibia.He said the ministry is aware that communal conservancies and community forests rely on hunting, tourism and other natural resources for their income which is severely affected by Covid-19.“Our economy has been subjected to unprecedented pressure, particularly in the tourism sector, as flight travel was suspended and lockdowns were imposed in many countries throughout the world, Namibia included,” Shifeta said.He said the ministry recognised the threat this pandemic posed to their flagship community based natural resource management (CBNRM) program, which relies heavily on photographic, hospitality and conservation hunting to support operations and livelihoods of the people. “The Covid-19 pandemic heavily impacted rural livelihoods and we estimated that over 3,000 jobs in our sector were at risk. For these reasons, the MEFT and its partners responded by establishing the conservation relief, recovery and resilience facility (CRRRF) to invite partners from all sectors within Namibia and internationally for assistance,” Shifeta said.He said CBNRM is a unique program that provides rural communities with incentives to manage their natural resources and further unlock enormous tourism development opportunities and benefits from the use of wildlife.“Human wildlife conflict management interventions remain high on the agenda and program of the ministry” Shifeta said adding that they will continue to put mitigation and preventative measures for human and wildlife conflict in place in all affected areas of our country.Oshana governor Elia Irimari said thousands of their rural communities benefit from the conservancies through employment creation, cash income, development projects and social projects.Irimari said conservancies are great developmental tools or opportunities that provide communities with incentives to manage and conserve their areas and natural resources to unlock enormous tourism development opportunities and benefits from the use of wildlife.“Conservancies also bring about the electrification of rural areas, the upgrading of road networks and other development needs in their communities,” he stressed. – tuyeimo@namibiansun.com

Shifeta urges conservancies to be financially stable

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Namibian Sun 2022-07-07

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Shifeta urges conservancies to be financially stable

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Namibian Sun 2022-07-07

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