Topnaar Association to benefit from Namib and Dorob parks

ELLANIE SMITWINDHOEKTourism minister Pohamba Shifeta told the newly inaugurated Topnaar Community Association that there should be no misuse and misappropriation of association property and finances by individuals at the expense of the association members.The Topnaar Community Association was officially recognised by the ministry on 1 September this year and was inaugurated over the weekend. According to Shifeta, they now have the responsibility as an association to work with the ministry in the management of wildlife resources in the Namib-Naukluft and Dorob national parks.He said that this management responsibility will come with benefits to the community through their association and will come mainly from tourism. “Any future tourism concessions to the resident community in the two parks of Namib and Dorob will from now on be awarded through the Topnaar Community Association, and must benefit the community and not individuals.”ConcessionsShifeta said in order to manage the area and its natural resources better, a Land Use and Development Plan for the Kuiseb Valley Managed Resource Use Zones in the Namib-Naukluft and Dorob national parks has been developed in consultation with the community.The plan seeks to establish an integrated and coordinated programme of development in the Kuiseb Valley Managed Resource Use Zones. The objectives of the plan are to increase livelihood opportunities in the Kuiseb Valley Managed Resource Use Zones and to improve food security, provide appropriate and adequate basic services and infrastructure, ensure land uses are sustainable and involve residents in conservation management activities and benefits thereof.“We do not want to hear of any misuse and misappropriating of association property and finances by individuals at the expense of the broader community association members. “We want to see money generated through the utilisation of wildlife and from tourism concessions going to the community in terms of building classrooms, rural electrification of our villages, medical support to communities, provision of water to communities, human-wildlife conflict mitigation, support to school learners and university students, and many other developmental projects.”Unity vitalShifeta said that community associations are also not a tool to divide the community members along political, racial or ethnic lines, but is a vehicle towards rural economic emancipation and this should be very clear to everyone concerned. “I urge you all to commit yourselves to nation-building and not indulge yourselves in creating conflicts amongst the community members. We need to work together with vigour and determination to achieve our developmental goals.”He said Namibia has adopted several innovative strategies to achieve biodiversity conservation within the framework of national development and poverty reduction. One of the strategies is to engage with communities neighbouring and living inside protected areas as per the National Policy on Protected Areas Neighbouring and Resident Communities. Shifeta said this engagement includes the establishment of community representative structures and inclusion for the management of natural resources and benefit sharing with park neighbours and resident communities. “Given the nature of the Namib-Naukluft Park and Dorob National Park, in particular the existence of the Lower Kuiseb Managed Resource Use Zone in which people reside, the ministry has developed management plans for the two parks that took into consideration all social and environmental aspects of the community living in the parks.”The NamParks 5 project, which is a project of the ministry co-financed by the German government through the Development Bank KfW, provided financial support to the establishment of the Topnaar Association and capacity building of the Association Committee members to a total of N$383 000. With support from the project, further interventions with a total cost of N$981 000 will be supported and implemented before the end of the project in September 2022.ellanie@namibiansun.com

Topnaar Association to benefit from Namib and Dorob parks

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Namibian Sun 2022-05-26

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Topnaar Association to benefit from Namib and Dorob parks

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Namibian Sun 2022-05-26

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