Conservation facility disburses N$73m
To date, the Conservation Relief, Recovery and Resilience Facility (CRRRF) has disbursed N$73 million to community conservancies and forests.
Tourism minister Pohamba Shifeta said this while speaking at the Conservancies Chairperson Forum for the southern regions, held in Keetmanshoop.
According to him, Namibia’s community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) programme has grown remarkably year on year since gazetting of the first communal conservancy in 1998.
There are now 86 registered communal conservancies, 43 community forests and two community associations in the country.
“The Covid-19 pandemic heavily impacted rural livelihoods and we estimated that over 3 000 jobs in our sector were at risk.”
Shifeta said the ministry and its partners therefore established the CRRRF to invite stakeholders from all sectors - within Namibia and internationally - for assistance.
The aim of the facility is to provide relief to enable communal conservancies and community forests to pay salaries to game guards, forests monitors and staff to continue with wildlife monitoring activities such as patrols, anti-poaching and to respond to human wildlife conflict, he said.
Helping hand
The facility further provides additional relief and recovery measures for CBNRM entities that are associated with tourism and nature-based enterprises.
According to Shifeta, it distributed N$44.7 million to communal conservancies and community forests and N$28.3 million to tourism business support, which allowed lodges, campsites, small- to medium-sized enterprises, crafters and hunters to continue to operate.
He added that restrictions on gatherings due to Covid-19 made it difficult and, in some cases impossible, for many communal conservancies to meet their governance standards over the past two years.
“Annual general meetings, in particular, were not held in conservancies where the quorum exceeded the maximum number of people allowed to gather under the prevailing restrictions.”
Shifeta said finding income sources for southern conservancies remains high on the ministry’s agenda and programmes.
“To empower our communities, we will continue to implement the national policies on tourism and wildlife concessions on state land, protected areas’ neighbours and communities, and game utilisation in protected areas and other state land.”
Tourism minister Pohamba Shifeta said this while speaking at the Conservancies Chairperson Forum for the southern regions, held in Keetmanshoop.
According to him, Namibia’s community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) programme has grown remarkably year on year since gazetting of the first communal conservancy in 1998.
There are now 86 registered communal conservancies, 43 community forests and two community associations in the country.
“The Covid-19 pandemic heavily impacted rural livelihoods and we estimated that over 3 000 jobs in our sector were at risk.”
Shifeta said the ministry and its partners therefore established the CRRRF to invite stakeholders from all sectors - within Namibia and internationally - for assistance.
The aim of the facility is to provide relief to enable communal conservancies and community forests to pay salaries to game guards, forests monitors and staff to continue with wildlife monitoring activities such as patrols, anti-poaching and to respond to human wildlife conflict, he said.
Helping hand
The facility further provides additional relief and recovery measures for CBNRM entities that are associated with tourism and nature-based enterprises.
According to Shifeta, it distributed N$44.7 million to communal conservancies and community forests and N$28.3 million to tourism business support, which allowed lodges, campsites, small- to medium-sized enterprises, crafters and hunters to continue to operate.
He added that restrictions on gatherings due to Covid-19 made it difficult and, in some cases impossible, for many communal conservancies to meet their governance standards over the past two years.
“Annual general meetings, in particular, were not held in conservancies where the quorum exceeded the maximum number of people allowed to gather under the prevailing restrictions.”
Shifeta said finding income sources for southern conservancies remains high on the ministry’s agenda and programmes.
“To empower our communities, we will continue to implement the national policies on tourism and wildlife concessions on state land, protected areas’ neighbours and communities, and game utilisation in protected areas and other state land.”
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