NACSO 2018 Highlights

The bulletins highlight significant work accomplished by NACSO in 2018. Much of the work we do contribute to Namibia’s National Development Plan and many international conventions that Namibia is signatory to, such as the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and Convention on International Trade in Endangered Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

We take pride in our work and will continue to support conservancies and community forests to sustainably manage their natural resources while deriving social and economic benefits from them. The key plans for 2019 are set out below.

• Namibia has produced its fourteenth State of Conservancy Report, and has consistently documented natural resource, income, benefits and governance data, and the impacts of community-based conservation in Namibia since 1998.
• Our work to strengthen Conservancy Associations is paying off – The Erongo Conservancy Regional Association is negotiating with AfriTin Mining Company on social benefits to their communities when Tin will be mined in their area. The associations are assisting their conservancies to comply with the Ministry of Environment’s Standard Operating Procedures for conservancies, and they are becoming more assertive in communicating and advocating for their interests, such as Kunene Regional Communal Conservancy Association which represented its members at the UNCBD in Egypt in order to present on the work and support they provide to their members.
• During the past year the net national income contribution generated by community conservation was N$ 804 million (compared to N$ 692 million in the previous year). N$ 132 million was generated in returns for local communities (compared to N$ 111 million in the previous year) and 5,350 jobs were created (up from 5,147 in the previous year) as a direct result of natural-resource based enterprises.
• Between 1990 and 2016, the cumulative value of the National Income contribution amounts to an estimated 7.11 billion.
• The Donald Hamer Conservation Leadership Programme (CLP) has been running since 2012, and to date 14 interns have had the opportunity to participate in two year internships where they develop an in-depth understanding of CBNRM. Many of them are now employed and fulfilling critical roles in the national programme. We are proud that in 2018, seven (7) of our CLP young professionals have obtained post graduate degrees. In addition two of them obtained scholarship from the Namibia Chamber of Environment (NCE) to conduct Post Graduate Diploma in Disaster Risk Management and a Masters in Natural Resource Management.
• Through the Sustainable Communities Partnership project, 32 conservancy managers and 32 staff of community conservation support organizations and MET participated in a certificate course in Transformational Leadership which comprised a mix of course modules, mentoring and personal development. Impressive testimonies from course participants point to the immense personal and professional development they have achieved through this training.

2019 key plans

• Namibia’s tourism growth points to further expansion of the tourism industry and an anticipated increase in tourism revenue by conservancies. NACSO’s members continue to build the capacity of conservancies to manage increasingly complex revenue streams.
• An internal assessment of the Secretariat’s functions by its Executive Committee has confirmed that value of the NACSO alliance to its members, and their wish that the Secretariat remain lean and focussed on its core functions of convening and advocating for community conservation in Namibia.
• Since its inception, NACSO has heavily depended on WWF in Namibia for its core funding. The secretariat is currently exploring alternative financing options, including the possibility of its members contributing towards its costs.