It is a fact that communities along the Benguela Current coastline are geographically isolated. Yet the effective and sustainable management of the coast and its resources is highly dependent on the contributions of all beneficiaries. It is integral therefore to have communities who are well informed and participatory. The DLIST project has attempted various means of facilitating the two way flow of information to and from communities, all with varying success. Here we share the effectiveness of radio in bridging the knowledge and information gap.

In June 2007 the Richtersveld Cultural and Botanical Landscape World Heritage Site was enlisted on UNESCOs World Heritage List. The Richtersvelders have come a long way in fighting for, and preserving their land and culture. With World Heritage Site recognition, the region has much to look forward to – in this article the administrative officer of the Richtersveld World Heritage Site shares the triumph, the challenges and the way ahead.

Biodiversity in Angola - Reintegration and Conservation
By Vladimir Russo
The outbreak of peace in Angola in 2002, saw the end of years of liberation and civil war that has afflicted the country for decades and resulted in physical, social, economic and environmental devastation to the country. The advent of war and the lack of lasting peace and democracy can hardly be seen as conducive to the country’s healthy growth and development. Yet Angola possesses a unique wealth in regard to biodiversity with 6 unique geomorphologic and climatic regions. The country’s recent turn around in 2002 has given Angolans increased incentive in protecting and managing its immense and rich biodiversity. This article highlights the steps and new perspectives the government has undertaken in conserving and managing its environment – from plans and policies to social reintegration.

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Humans and Wildlide - Finding a balance to a peaceful co-existence
With growing human populations comes the increased need for land and resources. In Southern Africa humans have been encroaching on spaces ordinarily occupied by wildlife. This new interaction of humans and wildlife has lead elephants, who are largely territorial, to infringe upon farms and crops. The DLISTers held an interesting discussion where they discussed if and how humans and elephants can find a balance to co-existence. Read on to find out more

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What have DLIST and the Partners been up to?
By Nadine Pickering
DLIST reaches out to the enthusiastic Namibian youth who are hungry for information and experiences by arranging coastal field visits that expose them to the day to day processes of coastal towns, a successful crayfish festival kicks off in Luderitz, the second installment of the DLIST film festival in the smaller towns are a hit with local schools, and the NACOMA project makes an endevour to listen to, and portray local communities concerns about their coast… these are some of the recent activities of DLIST and its partners in Namibia.

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New Courses on Offer!
Registration is now open for the Environmental Engineering: Sustainable Dvelopment in Coastal Areas course, which will commense in January 2009. Environmental Engineering is a SAQA accredited semester course offered through the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology in conjunction with DLIST. It is a degree level course that is also open to distance learners. DLIST is also proud to introduce another exiting Stakeholder Participation Course! The Stakeholder Participation course is useful to anyone who is interested in the general process of stakeholder participation and is open to anyone.

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Human Wildlife Conflict
Communities in the Kunene region of Namibia’s north have been experiencing the problem of elephants roaming onto their farms and eating their crops. This may result in heavy economic losses. But how do they harmonise the protection of their livelihoods and the conservation of biodiversity. Read what the DLISTers have to say:
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Researching Potentials of Local Scientific Knowledge using Participatory GIS
Is there a need for the integration of local knowledge with conventional ‘western’ knowledge to achieve successful land use management? Read further to see what the some of the users propose:
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Food for Thought
A user notes that because commercial farmers own such large tracts of land in South Africa, they also occupy significant portions of biodiversity and can therefore act as custodians of conservation. How are commercial farmers and private land owners being engaged on conservation issues?
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Climate Change is Injustice
Namibia’s environment minister has noted that developing countries are the most vulnerable to environmental stresses and skewed trade and finance relations between north and south. Is this threatening the growth of so called developing countries?
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• Mitigation of human-elephant conflict in the Kavango-Zambezi TFCA
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• The Local Action for Biodiversity (LAB)
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• Corporate Social Responsibility in mining in Southern Africa: Fair accountability or just greenwash?
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• TRANSFORM: Lessons Learnt from Implementing CBNRM in SA
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• Women of the Earth: Nuturing the Future
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