N$186m for wildlife tourism, climate
Namibian communities living with wildlife are set to benefit from the seventh GEF cycle.
Namibia has been allocated N$186.5 million as part of the next cycle of the Global Environmental Facility (GEF), and given the country's current challenges and the tourism sector's potential, the development of wildlife-based tourism is likely to enjoy priority.
This is according to environment minister Pohamba Shifeta who provided feedback on the outcomes of the recently concluded sixth GEF assembly in Vietnam.
GEF funding is replenished in four-year cycles and it was agreed at the assembly that N$55.1 billion would be pledged for the upcoming seventh GEF replenishment cycle from 2018 to 2022.
According to Shifeta, Namibia's indicative country allocation for the GEF 7 period was also announced as N$186.5 million at the recent assembly.
The allocation per focal area for Namibia is N$13.44 million for climate mitigation, N$84 million for biodiversity management and N$88. 9 million for combatting land degradation.
Shifeta said wildlife-based tourism will likely have a primary focus under the GEF 7 cycle and this will include interventions to mitigate the costs of living with wildlife, being borne by communities, as well as interventions to enhance community tourism benefits.
“Efforts to combat land degradation and to restore degraded land are likely to be further focus areas, given the substantial land degradation focal area allocation.”
According to Shifeta, under the GEF 6 funding cycle the ministry is currently busy with the finalisation of the project proposal and the full implementation of the project will begin in 2019.
The project, known as the Namibia Integrated Landscape Approach for Enhancing Livelihoods and Environmental Governance to Eradicate Poverty (NILALEG), is a targeted attempt to support poverty eradication efforts in rural areas, based on sustainable nature-based livelihoods. It is funded with N$144.7 million form the GEF and will be implemented over a five-year period.
“Since 1998, Namibia has been able to implement over 30 national projects worth approximately N$954 million and the country has participated in 34 regional and global projects,” said Shifeta.
These projects have covered a wide range of areas, such as the management of Namibia's protected areas, support to communal conservancies and community forests, the promotion of climate-smart agriculture, sustainable rangeland management and integrated coastal zone governance.
“The ministry will now have to design bankable programmes and projects to capitalise on these allocations. These programmes and projects will target national priorities and challenges and will be aligned with national planning documents, as well as the national targets set to achieve the Rio conventions,” said Shifeta.
He said the ministry will be proceeding with the speedy development of programmes and projects in the coming months, as time is of the essence to capitalise on the funding.
The GEF was established in 1991 as a World Bank pilot programme to help tackle pressing environmental problems.
It has since evolved into the financing mechanism for a number of multilateral environmental agreements.
Funding from the GEF is availed to developing countries and countries with economies in transmission, to meet the objectives of these international environmental conventions and agreements.
There are currently 39 developed countries that provide financing to the GEF.
This money is allocated in project grants to developing countries, according to three criteria, including the global importance of the country's biodiversity, a country's past performance in implementing GEF-funded projects and the country's GDP.
Since 1992, the GEF has provided over N$240.5 billion in grants for more than 4 500 projects in 170 countries, focusing on biodiversity management, climate change adaptation and mitigation, combatting land degradation, the management of international waters and chemical and waste management.
ELLANIE SMIT
This is according to environment minister Pohamba Shifeta who provided feedback on the outcomes of the recently concluded sixth GEF assembly in Vietnam.
GEF funding is replenished in four-year cycles and it was agreed at the assembly that N$55.1 billion would be pledged for the upcoming seventh GEF replenishment cycle from 2018 to 2022.
According to Shifeta, Namibia's indicative country allocation for the GEF 7 period was also announced as N$186.5 million at the recent assembly.
The allocation per focal area for Namibia is N$13.44 million for climate mitigation, N$84 million for biodiversity management and N$88. 9 million for combatting land degradation.
Shifeta said wildlife-based tourism will likely have a primary focus under the GEF 7 cycle and this will include interventions to mitigate the costs of living with wildlife, being borne by communities, as well as interventions to enhance community tourism benefits.
“Efforts to combat land degradation and to restore degraded land are likely to be further focus areas, given the substantial land degradation focal area allocation.”
According to Shifeta, under the GEF 6 funding cycle the ministry is currently busy with the finalisation of the project proposal and the full implementation of the project will begin in 2019.
The project, known as the Namibia Integrated Landscape Approach for Enhancing Livelihoods and Environmental Governance to Eradicate Poverty (NILALEG), is a targeted attempt to support poverty eradication efforts in rural areas, based on sustainable nature-based livelihoods. It is funded with N$144.7 million form the GEF and will be implemented over a five-year period.
“Since 1998, Namibia has been able to implement over 30 national projects worth approximately N$954 million and the country has participated in 34 regional and global projects,” said Shifeta.
These projects have covered a wide range of areas, such as the management of Namibia's protected areas, support to communal conservancies and community forests, the promotion of climate-smart agriculture, sustainable rangeland management and integrated coastal zone governance.
“The ministry will now have to design bankable programmes and projects to capitalise on these allocations. These programmes and projects will target national priorities and challenges and will be aligned with national planning documents, as well as the national targets set to achieve the Rio conventions,” said Shifeta.
He said the ministry will be proceeding with the speedy development of programmes and projects in the coming months, as time is of the essence to capitalise on the funding.
The GEF was established in 1991 as a World Bank pilot programme to help tackle pressing environmental problems.
It has since evolved into the financing mechanism for a number of multilateral environmental agreements.
Funding from the GEF is availed to developing countries and countries with economies in transmission, to meet the objectives of these international environmental conventions and agreements.
There are currently 39 developed countries that provide financing to the GEF.
This money is allocated in project grants to developing countries, according to three criteria, including the global importance of the country's biodiversity, a country's past performance in implementing GEF-funded projects and the country's GDP.
Since 1992, the GEF has provided over N$240.5 billion in grants for more than 4 500 projects in 170 countries, focusing on biodiversity management, climate change adaptation and mitigation, combatting land degradation, the management of international waters and chemical and waste management.
ELLANIE SMIT
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