Game Boon for Conservancies
Monday, 18th of August 2008

By Wezi Tjaronda

WINDHOEK

Scores of communal area conservancies in six regions will receive game as part of a project aimed at enhancing biodiversity and restoring game populations in rural areas.

The game translocation project of the Ministry of Environment and Tourism will see 23 communal area conservancies receiving 2 500 head of wildlife in the Kunene, Erongo, Karas, Hardap, Omusati and Otjozondjupa regions.

The first translocations under the Enhancing Wildlife Based Economy in Rural Areas Project (EWERAP) were done in Okakarara and southern Namibia.

Permanent Secretary Dr Kalumbi Shangula said in a statement the first game capture for translocation to conservancies in Karas, Hardap and Otjozondjupa regions had started and more than 1 500 head of game will be delivered to selected conservancies in the next two weeks.

The programme, supported by the EU-funded Rural Poverty Reduction Programme, will see a variety of species from private farms throughout Namibia translocated to the conservancies. The species include 275 eland, 535 oryx, 280 red hartebeest, 275 kudu and 880 springbok.

Apart from the game to the conservancies, which has been sourced from private game farms, Shangula said the ministry would also donate 50 giraffe and 300 Hartmann’s zebra from Etosha National Park.

Further translocations are planned for 2009 to boost the economic and natural resources potential for communal conservancies for the benefit of the rural communities and nature conservation in the country, said the PS.

He said the economic development and success of communal conservancies rely heavily on their commitment to sustainably manage and restore wildlife and other natural resources.

Shangula said by enhancing biodiversity and restoring game populations, the ministry is creating a platform for generation of long-term benefits for the communities, including income generation through tourism, live sale of surplus game, trophy hunting and game meat production.

“At the same time, the reintroduction of wildlife is beneficial to the environment, restoring biodiversity and contributing to the ecosystem stability,†said Shangula.

Between 1999 and 2005, more than 2 900 animals were translocated to eight conservancies. The translocations, according to a publication “Namibia’s communal conservancies, a review of progress and challenges in 2005â€, made it possible to reintroduce species that had become locally extinct.

However, no animals will be moved in the areas north of the veterinary cordon fence until the ban on movement of animals has been lifted. The Department of Veterinary Services in the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry banned livestock movement in areas north of the red line because of a foot-and-mouth outbreak in a village in the Kavango Region on July 28.