Ministry of Environment and Tourism, Namibia

 

 

Location: Primarily Etosha National Park, Waterberg Plateau Park and the Kunene Region Project leader: Pierre du Preez Project partner: Ministry of Environment and Tourism Rhino species: Black rhino (Diceros bicornis minor) and white rhino (Ceratotherium simum simum) Rhino numbers: In total, Namibia has 1,435 black rhino and 370 white rhino Activities: Translocations, community conservation programmes, anti-poaching and monitoring, wildlife-based tourism development Support: Translocating rhinos from the Kunene Region to other National Parks and communal conservancies, as part of an ongoing biological management programme Funding partners: Opel Zoo, EAZA Rhino Campaign

 

Namibia holds more than a third of all the black rhinos remaining in Africa, and is the stronghold of the south-western subspecies (Diceros bicornis bicornis). With more than 95% of the total population of this taxon found in Namibia, and rhino numbers increasing steadily under a well-established and innovative conservation and management programme, the future of the south-western black rhino will depend on Namibia’s ability to maintain adequate standards of protection, management, monitoring and sustainable utilisation of rhinos, and to expand available areas of range to accommodate further population increase.

The Ministry of Environment and Tourism (MET) was established in 1990 and is responsible for the safeguarding Namibia’s environmental resources. MET has ever since began to implement far-reaching policy and legislation reforms within the environmental sphere in an attempt to alleviate many of the constraints that the environment place upon people and vice versa.  These reforms were also aimed at encouraging the various innovative collaborative partnerships between key players in the environmental field, such as various Ministries with environmental interests within their areas of jurisdiction, non-governmental organisations, community-based organisations and donor agencies of various countries.
 
The mission of the Ministry of Environment and Tourism is to maintain and rehabilitate essential ecological processes and life-supported life-support systems, to conserve biological diversity and to ensure that the utilization of natural resources is sustainable for the benefit of all Namibians, both present and future, as well as the international community, as provided for in the Constitution.
 

To achieve the above mission statement, the Ministry needs a clearly defined mandate, which should be translated into a set of policies containing guiding principles. These policies should in turn be implemented by means of carefully constructed environmental plans. In May 1991 the necessary mandate was given to the Ministry of Environment and Tourism when the Namibian Cabinet decreed that this Ministry should have responsibility of the Namibian Environment.

The mandate necessary for this Ministry to assume the above mentioned responsibility and to execute its tasks adequately include the following objectives:
 
To conserve the natural environment in Namibia;
To protect biological diversity and life support systems, in partnership with other ministries, organizations and individuals;
To expand, develop, manage and control the country’s conservation areas;
To manage and coordinate natural resources and to encourage the development of appropriate wildlife- and forestry- based industries;
To foster the sustainable use of all living resources, in partnership with other ministries, organizations and individuals;
To conserve wilderness, and to protect the character and beauty of Namibia;
To initiate and/or participate in all land-use planning with regard to natural resources and the preparation, implementation and management of community-based conservation and development programmes;
To initiate and/or participate in the development of the natural resource-base and methods of utilization so that people obtain the maximum sustainable benefits;
To apply appropriate environmental, social and economic assessment procedures to development proposals, plans and projects;
To develop, coordinate and promote tourism on a sustainable basis, both within proclaimed conservation areas and in the country as a whole, in partnership with other organizations;
To control standards on environmental pollution;
To conduct and promote environmental education, extension and awareness programmes, in partnership with other ministries and organizations;
To conduct and promote research, monitoring and evaluations, and the  coordination of these activities, in support of the above objectives, as well as the communication of results at local, national and international levels;
To develop, apply and evaluate environmental policies, plans an legislation so as to allow this Ministry to achieve the above objectives; and
To create and maintain an environment where every employee is able to reach his or her maximum potential in a climate, favoring innovation and excellence.