usaid/nambia environmental threats and opportunities assessment

1. INTRODUCTION
A. COUNTRY OVERVIEW
Namibia is the 34 th largest country in the world and covers approximately 825,000 km 2 . It supports an
estimated 2.1 million people, making it the second least populated country on earth. Located in
Southern Africa, Namibia’s borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the
north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east.
The Namibian landscape consists of five major geographical areas: the Central Plateau, the Namib
Desert, the Great Escarpment, the Bushveld, and the Kalahari Desert. These geographical areas support
four majors biomes – the tree and shrub savanna, the Nama Karoo, the Namib Desert, and the
Succulent Karoo. These biogeographical areas each contain unique and important biodiversity elements
that are critical to Namibia’s long term development goals.
The country is administratively divided into 13 regions with an estimated 37% of the population living in
urban areas. The majority of rural population resides in the north of the country.
B. THE PURPOSE OF THIS ASSESSMENT
Section 118 of the Foreign Assistance Act (FAA) of 1961 requires that every USAID country
development strategy statement or country plan include an analysis of:
“1) the actions necessary in that country to achieve conservation and sustainable management of tropical forests;” and “2)
the extent to which the actions proposed by the agency meet the needs thus identified.”
Section 119 dictates that every country strategic plan developed by USAID shall include: “1) the actions
necessary in that country to conserve biological diversity;” and “2) the extent to which the actions proposed for support by
the agency meet the needs thus identified.”
Hence, the use of the 118/119 report to assist the development of country level plans or strategies is a
legal requirement.
This document analyzes the status of biodiversity and tropical forest conservation in Namibia, identifies
principal problems and their causes, and provides the USAID mission with recommendations for
including biodiversity and tropical forest conservation in a portfolio that is appropriate to Namibia’s
development needs. It has five objectives:
Assess the current state of biodiversity conservation and forest management in Namibia
Identify the root causes of processes and trends that threaten biodiversity and tropical forests
Identify the immediate causes for the threats to biodiversity and tropical forests
Identify priority actions necessary to better conserve tropical forests and biological diversity in
Namibia
Provide specific recommendation to USAID/Namibia on how to incorporate actions that will
help conserve biodiversity and tropical forests into its strategic priorities given budget and
programmatic constraints
USAID/NAMIBIA ENVIRONMENTAL THREATS AND OPPORTUNITIES ASSESSMENT 11