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NACOMA Project - Preparation phaseRapid Assessment of the Development Plans, Biodiversity Conservation Projects and Socio-Economic Situation of the Namib Coastal RegionsThe Hardap Region is named after the Hardap Dam, which provides for Namibia’s largest irrigationscheme, crop production and water for human consumption. Agriculture, particularly small-stock andostrich farming, is the major economic activity in the region. Within the region, fishing is confined tofresh water. The region boasts a well-developed infrastructure base and tourism is a rising economicactivity. The Hardap Region includes two spectacular deserts, the Namib Desert in the West and theKalahari Desert in the East. The tourism route from South Africa to the rest of Namibia runs through theHardap Region, rendering it ideally situated for tourism. Its strategic location serves as a gateway to theinternationally renowned scenic scenes, such as the Namib Naukluft Park, Sossusvlei and Sesriem. Thecoastal areas comprise some of the harshest parts of the Namib Desert, namely the red dune sea thatconsists of shifting sands running straight into the sea. Having no significant rocky shore, lacking freshwater, and possessing no infrastructure, this coastal area’s greatest value lies in its wilderness. TheHardap Region’s coastal areas have brought little or no income to the region, often leading toexpressions of frustration by leaders compelled to find new livelihoods for a region where income fromagriculture lies in the hands of a small part of the population. Even the tourism industry blossomingalong the eastern edge of the Namib’s dune sea brings little benefit to the region and employs scarcely ahandful of local people 22 .The Karas Region is named after the distinctive Karas Mountains. The region is diverse in terms ofeconomic activities, consisting of mining, agriculture, fisheries and tourism, but the economy is largelyprimary sector-propelled. The dualistic agriculture sector provides for communal farming (occupyingabout 48% of total agriculture land) and commercial farming. One of the main tourist destinations in theKaras region is the Fish River Canyon, the second largest canyon in the world and tourism is thriving inthe region. The restricted diamond mining area of the Sperrgebiet has acted as a barrier between theKaras people and their coast. The Sperrgebiet contains the bulk of Namibia’s share of the SucculentKaroo, making it part of the richest desert in the world in terms of biological diversity. It also containsimportant wetlands and along the coast rock lobster fishing grounds and a string of islands that areunparalleled as breeding sites for sea birds. The fishing sector is a major employment provider, andmariculture farming activities are emerging along the Lüderitz coastline 23 . Lüderitz is an importantfishing port and one of the main centres for industrial development on the coast of Namibia. Mining,which is a major foreign exchange earner, is dominated by diamond mining (both on and off-shore) atOranjemund and Lüderitz in the Sperrgebiet. Other minerals deposits are mined inland at Rosh Pinahand Haib, close to Noordoewer.The Karas Region is experiencing the effect of the downscaling of mining in the diamond miningindustry based along the coast, an effect that will be worsening with increased downscaling over thenext decades. While the potential of mariculture is often touted as a remedy for the region’s economicwoes, fluctuating trends in the fishing industry remains an underlying concern. Lured by potential workin the fishing industry and Orange River-based agriculture, people from all over Namibia have migratedto the South only to be stranded in growing informal settlements. Although it has a comparatively highHDI (see Table 1), the general perception is that the mining and agricultural sectors have enrichedrelatively few people while poverty is rampant in the rural and communal areas.2.6. Key role playersThis section provides an overview of the key role players in the coastal areas. More detailed informationabout responsibilities for environmental management and biodiversity conservation in Namibia can be22 Regional Council of Hardap and Hardap Tourism Board, 2003. Hardap Region Tourism Development Plan 2003.Mariental, pp 1-110.23 Mariculture fishing operations, of which two are currently established in Lüderitz, are increasingly encouraged by theMinistry of Fisheries and Marine Resources to divert from traditional fishing activities.10
NACOMA Project - Preparation phaseRapid Assessment of the Development Plans, Biodiversity Conservation Projects and Socio-Economic Situation of the Namib Coastal Regionsfound in the <strong>report</strong> “Analysis of the Institutional Capacity of the Namib Coast Regional Councils inRelation to the Decentralisation Process – Recommendations for Institutional Strengthening andCapacity Building”.The Regional Councils are the bodies responsible for development planning at the regional level. Anumber of government line ministries have responsibilities in the coastal areas. They include theMinistry of Environment and Tourism (MET), the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources(MFMR), the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME), and the Ministry of Regional and LocalGovernment and Housing (MRLGH). Even though several ministries have regional offices,responsibilities in environmental issues are still much centralised. Parastatals like the Namibia TourismBoard (NTB) and Namibia Wildlife Resorts (NWR) assist MET. The Namibian Ports Authority(NAMPORT) was established in 1994 to undertake the management and control of ports andlighthouses in Namibia and the provision of facilities and services related hereto.In the private sector, mining, fishing, shipping, and tourism industries have a strong presence along thecoast. NAMDEB, the largest diamond mining company in Namibia, is a joint venture of De Beers andthe Namibian government that controls the majority of mining activities along the coast. The fishingindustry is the most important industrial activity in Walvis Bay, where there are more than 100companies active in the sector, onshore and offshore. In the tourism sector, the Namibia TourismDevelopment Programme (NTDP) supports the diversification of Namibia’s tourism economy andincreased employment opportunities and the Namibian Community Based Tourism Association(NACOBTA) supports communities in their efforts to develop tourism enterprises in Namibia.Training and research institutions include the University of Namibia (UNAM), the Polytechnic ofNamibia, the Gobabeb Training and Research Centre (GTRC), previously known as the DesertEcological Research Unit, and the Desert Research Foundation of Namibia (DRFN). Attempts atecosystem monitoring include the Namibian Long-term Ecological Research (NaLTER) programme,while the National Botanical Research Institute (NBRI) and the National Museum of Namibia have alsobeen involved in inventory of species in the country . 24 A number of Non Governmental Organisations(NGOs) and Community Based Organisations (CBOs) play an important role in facilitatingcommunity-based natural resources management (CBNRM) around the country but thus far there hasbeen little activity from that quarter focused on the coastal areas.The Namib and the <strong>Benguela</strong> Current Large Marine Ecosystem (BCLME) are shared by three nationsand international cooperation can thus not be overlooked. The BCLME Programme and the emergingTransfrontier Conservation Area (TFCA) provide frameworks for possible collaboration. Specific sitesof importance in the international context are the Orange and Kunene River Mouths, the Greater !GariepTFCA in the south that includes the coastal areas and runs inland, along the border with South Africaand the Skeleton Coast/Iona Transfrontier Park in the north, straddling the border with Angola.While the full range of stakeholders normally present in coastal areas anywhere else in the world alsoexists in Namibia, a closer and to the point examination of the stakeholders is necessary in terms of howdecision making power pertaining to the use of coastal areas is distributed amongst them. After all,coastal management and integrated development planning to a large extent are political processes thatinvolve a number of key actors and interest groups in addition to government 25 . These different coastalstakeholders and groups have different perspectives on coastal management integrated developmentplanning. Moreover, as is the case with virtually all other countries in Africa, Namibia has a strongcolonial legacy that persists to this day. To deny this will simply be unreasonable and will help nothing24 Ministry of Environment and Tourism, 2002a. National Report to the Conference of the Parties on theImplementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity in Namibia. April 2002.25 Beatley, T., D. Brower and A. Schwab. 1994. An Introduction to Coastal Zone Management. Washington, D.C:Island Press.11
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