In Namibia, forest cover was once much more extensive than it is today. A growing population increases demand for timber for traditional housing, and the rapid commercial harvesting of species such as Zambezi Teak and Kiaat further increases the risk of forest depletion. As climate change becomes an escalating global and Namibian concern, preserving forest cover is more critical than ever.

Namibia’s forest areas are part of southern Africa’s Miombo Woodlands. They are not dense forests but rather aggregations of woodlands and bush. They are ecologically important for carbon storage, for their capacity to retain soil and prevent erosion, and for the wealth of biodiversity (flora and fauna) they contain or host. Forests are also an economic resource, containing timber and other plants. African Teak is a high-value timber used in carving. Other forest products include devil’s claw, a tuber with medicinal qualities.

In 2020, the Directorate of Forestry was incorporated into the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism (MEFT), previously the Ministry of Environment and Tourism (MET). This decision brings Namibian plant resource management closer to the conservation of other natural resources. The Directorate’s mandate was considerably expanded in 2008 to cover the entire country and to integrate newly established community forests into the overall programme. These community forests are in ten regions across northern Namibia (Zambezi, Kavango East and West, Ohangwena, Omusati, Oshikoto, Oshana, Otjozondjupa, Kunene and Omaheke) and have become an essential and integral part of the CBNRM programme. There are currently 43 registered and emerging community forests in Namibia, covering around 8% of the country. However, many of these forests overlap communal conservancies, in many cases by 100%, so the forest area outside conservancies contributes only 0.4% of Namibia’s land area.

Community forest management is guided by the principles of sustainable management, which aim to maintain and improve the resource base rather than deplete it, and by the principle of sharing benefits among all local residents. Hence, community forests empower local people to take responsibility and become actively involved in forest management, thereby increasing the value and benefits of forest resources for local people. Community forests differ from conservancies in one fundamental respect: all residents within a community forest are members of the forest and have members’ rights, whereas not all residents of conservancies are members.

A principal source of income from community forests is the commercial extraction of Namibian hardwoods. The Directorate of Forestry calculates an ‘annual allowable offtake’ based on an inventory of timber resources, which is binding for a 5- to 10-year period. Community members conduct the inventory, as they know their areas intimately. Technical guidance is provided by the National Forestry Inventory (NFI) Department, which analyses the data and compiles inventory reports. These reports then form the key components of the management plan.

The principle of an inventory mirrors the annual game counts conducted in communal conservancy areas in the north-west and north-east, and the data are analysed before quotas are set for the sustainable use of game. The WWF coordinates an annual vegetation survey in selected conservancy areas, and all of these community-based monitoring activities provide information that is collated into the Namibian CONINFO database.

Trees also bear fruits of nutritional and economic value. Marula, ximenia, mopane and commiphora all produce oils useful for food or as skin lotions. Protecting these resources through sustainable utilisation is the key role of communal forests.

Forest committees have rights over their resources and issue permits for their utilisation, based on annual monitoring. They also control livestock grazing in forest areas, which are a valuable source of fodder during droughts. Grazing permits may be issued, subject to the sustainability of grazing and browsing in forest areas.