usaid/nambia environmental threats and opportunities assessment

5. CONCLUSIONS
Although Namibia’s wildlife sector has low status within the Government, it receives strong NGO and
donor support. The development of CBNRM has helped to provide alternative livelihoods for rural
communities and, provided that future habitat destruction is minimized in the face of growing foreign
and local commercial interests, wildlife-centered enterprises will continue to maintain biodiversity and
support some rural communities.
B. COASTAL AND MARINE ENVIRONMENT
1. BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Namibia’s marine environment falls within the Benguela Large Marine Ecosystem, which stretches
northwards from the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa to Cabinda in Angola.
The cold, productive Benguela Current comprises an equatorward flow of cool water in the South
Atlantic gyre, with dynamic wind-driven upwelling close inshore at certain active upwelling sites. This has
helped form the low-rainfall Namib Desert, which extends northwards through Namibia and southern
Angola.
Namibian waters have a high nutrient supply to the upper layers. This supports dense plankton blooms
and a large biomass of fish, crustaceans, sea birds, and marine mammals. Historically, the BCLME
presented favorable conditions for a rich production of economically valuable species. Occasional
harmful algal blooms (HABs) develop, which independently, or in combination with low-oxygen water,
can cause mass mortalities of fish, shellfish, marine mammals, seabirds, and other animals. Although
HABs are natural phenomena, their incidence appears to be increasing in frequency and intensity
worldwide (Joyce, 2004).
There is limited understanding of the physical, chemical and biological interactions and processes that drive the
highly variable and complex BCLME. However, there is fragmentary but important evidence that suggests
increasing instability and variability within this large marine ecosystem.
Of the 1,600 km long coast of Namibia, only 5% is rocky. The rest is comprised of sandy beaches with
minor rocky outcrops (Molloy, 1990). Perennial river input is only via the Orange and Kunene. Ten
westward flowing ephemeral rivers, between Walvis Bay in the south and the Kunene in the north, are
dry for most of the year but seasonally can carry water and silt to the sea.
Namibia has designated three coastal wetlands as Ramsar sites (wetlands of international importance),
i.e. the Walvis Bay Lagoon, 14 Sandwich Harbour Lagoon, and the Orange River Mouth, which support a
high diversity of shorebirds (mostly waders). Other coastal areas/wetlands in Namibia qualify for Ramsar
site status (including the Kunene River Mouth, Luderitz Lagoon, the Cape Cross Lagoons, and
Namibia’s offshore islands) but the GRN has hesitated on submitting these sites for designation. In
addition to these naturally occurring wetlands, the Swakopmund Saltworks, a manmade system of
shallow evaporation ponds, also qualifies as a wetland of international importance. This site, used for
commercial salt production and oyster farming, supports thousands of waders and seabirds.
14 The Walvis Bay Lagoon consists of lagoon, beach, and intertidal habitats and supports up to 150,000 birds of over 40 species,
many of which are migratory waders.
USAID/NAMIBIA ENVIRONMENTAL THREATS AND OPPORTUNITIES ASSESSMENT 41