The Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism (MEFT), with support from the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), is implementing measures to mitigate the adverse impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the operations of the protected areas in the country.
A total amount of €13 million in grant funding was received by the Namibian government from the government of German, through the KfW Development Bank, to support the mitigation measures, aimed at offsetting the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Namibian conservation and tourism sector. The € 5 million was allocated to the Community Conservation Fund of Namibia (CCFN) and € 8 million to the Integrated National Park Management II (NamParks V). Of the €8 million to NamParks V, €4 million is directed the Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA TFCA), while the remaining €4 million was allocated to support measures to mitigate negative ecological effects in the country’s protected areas through the NamParks V COVID-19 Fund.
The COVID-19 fund aims to cover COVID-19-related funding gaps in the operation of protected areas and wildlife protection activities. The Namibian biodiversity and its diverse landscapes are pivotal to the country’s tourism sector, which before the pandemic contributed 3.5% to the Namibian gross domestic product while providing direct and indirect employment to over 100,000 people (TSA, 2015).These sectors are among the hardest hit by the COVID-19, compromising the sustenance of livelihoods in the country. Through this COVID-19 funding, the ultimate goal is to ensure a seamless continuation of the sustainable and efficient management of the country’s 13 million hectares of state-protected areas.
Implementation of the specific, targeted activities under each of the focal areas (see Table 1 below), is on-going and is scheduled for completion by the end of December 2
Table 1: Allocation of funds, per each
intervention/focal area
|
1. Ensure on-going patrols and implementation of park regulations |
29 % |
|
2. Ensure on-going anti-poaching measures |
17 % |
|
3. Maintenance of firebreaks and roads, as well as maintenance and provision of water to for the game with the parks |
17 % |
|
4. Ensure on-going implementation of parks management, administration and coordination |
7 % |
|
5. Support the management of human wildlife conflicts (HWC) |
24 % |
|
6. Support tourism destination marketing |
5 % |
These measures contribute to the overarching aim of the conservation of biodiversity of protected areas and the positive development of the game numbers in Namibia by continuous integrated park management, the sustainable management of Namibia's natural landscapes as well as the secure support and cooperation mechanisms between the MEFT and national park residents in the form of tourism concessions and cooperation forums in order to create sustainable livelihoods based on conservation and tourism.
