Trophy-Hunting Advocates Honoured
4 August 2011



NAMIBIA'S Minister of Environment and Tourism, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, received international recognition for her efforts to conserve Namibian wildlife through hunting tourism recently.

Marina Lamprecht of Hunters Namibia Safaris was awarded at the same ceremony for her contribution to sustainable trophy hunting in Namibia.

Namibia's trophy-hunting ambassadors were awarded their Sports Shooting Ambassadors Awards at the recently held World Forum on the Future of Sport Shooting Activities (WFSA).

The Sport Shooting Ambassador presentation is made to individuals selected for their contribution to the shooting sports. The award was presented in Nuremberg, Germany at the International Trade Fair for Hunting and Sporting Arms, Outdoor Articles and Accessories, where the WFSA has its Annual General Meeting.

Nandi-Ndaitwah was praised for her ministry's support and promotion of sustainable trophy hunting as a conservation tool, as well as for her keynote address at the WFSA symposium on 'The Ecologic and Economic Benefits of Hunting' which was held in Windhoek.

Lamprecht, an executive committee member of the Namibian Professional Hunting Association (NAPHA) was awarded for her role as a spokesperson for the African trophy-hunting industry. She was also praised for her pro-hunting writing and seminars as well as her WFSA symposium address on 'The Development of Trophy Hunting in Namibia from the 60's to the Present Day'.

In her address Nandi-Ndaitwah explained that wildlife in Namibia has more than tripled in recent years, as hunting tourism encourages landowners to keep game on their land. According to the Minister "wildlife has turned from a cost into an asset".

She condemned unsustainable and unethical hunting practices and underlined that they are not tolerated in her country.

"Come to Namibia and hunt," she encouraged the international hunting community. "By hunting you help Namibia to keep its wildlife for future generations."

When addressing the meeting on 'The Image of Hunting' Lamprecht said that selective, ethical, fair-chase trophy hunting is a proven conservation success in Namibia. She said that hunting gives wildlife value "far greater than that of their meat".


According to Lamprecht, trophy hunting in Namibia continues to prove to be one of the most lucrative forms of commercial as well as communal land utilisation. She said the "greatest threats facing trophy hunting in Namibia is the lack of law enforcement to effectively punish those who hunt unethically and illegally".

She urged the Ministry of Environment and Tourism to put effective measures in place to ensure that trophy hunting is carried out strictly according to the letter of the law.

"Let us join forces to keep foreigners operating illegally out of our country, as well as to adopt an attitude of zero tolerance towards those who hunt unethically they threaten the future of our industry and, more importantly, make a mockery of our well-regulated trophy-hunting legislation which, if applied effectively, has the potential to be our greatest conservation success," Lamprecht said.