Namibia, located on Africa’s south west coast, is a sparsely populated country of approximately two million residents.  Namibia is particularly well known for its vast and beautiful desert landscapes.  Surprisingly, it is actually a land of contrasts, with equally stunning rivers and wetland areas as well.

Since independence in 1990, the tourism industry has rapidly become a major economic sector in Namibia, now rated third in terms of its contribution to national GDP behind mining and agriculture.  Given the aridity in many of Namibia’s rural areas, the wildlife and tourism sector poses one of the few livelihood and career options for local people.

Namibia’s community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) programme is known through the world as a leader in devolving wildlife management and utilization rights to local people.  The CBNRM programme, which was enabled by innovative legislation promulgated by the Ministry of Environment & Tourism, is supported by a range of State agencies, NGO’s, donors and the private sector.

Between 1996 and 2007 fifty conservancies were registered and these manage 118,700km of communal land that is home to about 221,000 residents.  Furthermore, there are now 13 registered community forests covering about 4,643 km of communal land, which are home to approximately 38,700 people.  In 2007 approximately NAD31.1m was earned directly by conservancies, and CBNRM activities generated around NAD223m for the Namibian economy.

In 2007 Namibia’s Ministry of Environment & Tourism passed a ground-breaking national policy for granting tourism and wildlife concessions on State land, including in protected areas.  This policy enables the direct award of concessions to communities that are resident in or neighbouring to parks.  This enables poor rural communities, and especially conservancies, to directly benefit from tourism opportunities and wildlife utilization, in recognition of their wildlife and land management role, tolerance to problem animals, and reduced livelihood options.

The African Safari Lodge Foundation (ASL) became active in Namibia in 2005 after it consulted various potential partners regarding the need for support in the tourism development sector.  Since that time, ASL has become involved with several strategic interventions and a pilot lodge project.

Strategic interventions

In 2008 the ASL prepared a tourism development plan for the Kunene People’s Park, which is an area soon to be proclaimed as a contractual park located between the Etosha National Park and Skeleton Coast Park in north western Namibia.  This study identified potential for upgrading existing tourism operations and the development of new ones, which will be for the direct benefit of communities neighbouring this new park.

Following approval of this tourism development plan, ASL has been appointed to provide facilitation services and transaction advice to communities and the Ministry of Environment & Tourism’s concession unit.  This involves supporting the award and implementation of new concessions inside of the Kunene People’s Park, as well as providing transaction advice to other community concessions, such as those in the Khaudum National Park.

Pilot lodges

Since 2006 ASL has supported the restructuring of the Etendeka Mountain Camp concession, situated within the Kunene People’s Park.  Etendeka Mountain Camp is a small tented ecotourism operation that was established in 1991, and specializes in nature-based tourism, especially expert guided walking.  The camp has won two awards for being a leader in sustainable tourism (see www.ecoawards-namibia.org).

Through this intervention, ASL is assisting two neighbouring communities to obtain tourism concession rights over the Etendeka area (39,000 hectares).  It is also facilitating the sub-contract negotiations between these communities and the incumbent operator.  The revised concession structure involves the communities upgrading the current camp infrastructure and developing a new lodge, with financial support provided by ASL and other sources.  The incumbent operator will be responsible for all the operational equipment and finance, as well as the day to day running of the concession.

Knowledge exchange

ASL has created opportunities for Namibians to share their experience tourism development with people from other countries.  To date ASL has assisted Namibians to attend tourism practitioner’s workshops in South Africa and India, and a tourism philanthropy conference in Tanzania.

For more details about ASL activities in Namibia, please contact: