CONSERVATION AND THE ENVIRONMENT IN NAMIBIA

Conservation and the Environment in Namibia shares true stories by Namibians living with and managing wildlife, perspectives from conservation scientists in the field and factual information on biodiversity, conservation and the environment in Namibia. Here are a few excerpts from the 2021 issue of Conservation and the Environment in Namibia.

Wildlife Corridors: Paths of Connection and Hope

Although maintaining wildlife corridors is highly valuable for the whole KAZA landscape and the larger wildlife economy, it comes at a cost for farmers who live in these areas and might want to use the land for farming purposes. Conservancies and other stakeholders must therefore identify key wildlife corridors in the Zambezi Region and come up with recommendations for incentivising the farmers who live along these corridors to leave them intact. One way of achieving that is through a Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) scheme that links the status of wildlife corridors directly to the income of conservancies, which in turn is used for the benefit of communities living in these areas. From the communities’ point of view, this system means that a wellprotected wildlife corridor equals improved living conditions.

Helicopter Science: Unlocking the Botanical Secrets of the Kaokoveld Mountains

There are few places left on earth that scientists haven’t visited to collect and study fauna and flora. Unexplored places invoke images of the deep ocean, inaccessible parts of Antarctica, or the highest mountains on Earth. It may come as a surprise that there are a few almost totally unexplored places right here in Namibia and just across the border in Angola. The region that covers north-western Namibia and south-western Angola, called the Kaokoveld, is well-known by scientists and intrepid tourists. Yet the peaks of the highest mountains in the Kaokoveld are so difficult to access that no one has ever scaled them to study the plants and animals that live on what appear from a distance to be inhospitable, barren mountaintops. Until now.

A Newly Discovered Plant Species Saved from the Rising Waters of Neckartal Dam

While the filling of Namibia’s newest and largest dam was met with jubilation after many years of drought, this event almost spelled extinction for a plant species that was unknown to science before the dam was built. The National Botanical Research Institute (NBRI) rescued as many plants as possible before they were inundated by the rising waters, and is determined to ensure the survival of this species.

As humanity forges ahead with developments to accommodate our burgeoning global population, many species of plants and animals pay the ultimate price – extinction. Sadly, this seems to be an accelerating tragedy despite all the rhetoric about “green development” and saving the planet. Some species disappear before they are even described by scientists, and many newly discovered species vanish almost as soon as we find them. This cautionary tale of Neckartal Dam and a newly discovered plant species shows just how vulnerable our biodiversity can be to the impact of development.

Conversations in the Cacophony: How Cape Fur Seals Communicate Within their Massive Breeding Colony

Seals, sea lions and walruses (collectively known as pinnipeds) are a particularly interesting group of mammals in terms of communications, as they are highly vocal, live in colonies of varying densities and have a variety of mating strategies. The Cape Cross colony of Cape fur seals provides an excellent case study for investigating pinniped communications; this is the densest colony of pinnipeds in the world, which requires the seals living here to have clear communication strategies. Surprisingly, while communication among several other pinniped species has been studied, we know nothing about Cape fur seal communication. The Namibian Dolphin Project therefore teamed up with French researchers from Paris-Saclay University to investigate. Although this project is not yet finished, we have already uncovered some of the seals’ strategies for communicating clearly despite the deafening din.

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Conservation and the Environment in Namibia is published by Venture Media in partnership with the Namibian Chamber of Environment.