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Walvis Bay Becomes Part of a Global Biodiversity Initiative |
By David Uushona and Olavi Makuti
 The Municipality of Walvis Bay at the coast of Namibia has recently launched the Walvis Bay Local Action for Biodiversity Project. The Local Action for Biodiversity (LAB) is a 3-year pilot project initiated by the International Council for Local Environmental initiatives (ICLEI), of which the Municipality of Walvis Bay is a member since 2003, with a focus on enhancing planning and management of biodiversity at the local level. The LAB Project began in July 2006 and will run until mid 2009.The Walvis Bay LAB Project was officially launched on the 27th of July 2007.
A total of 20 cities worldwide are taking part in the LAB project. Walvis Bay, Cape Town, Ekurhuleni, Durban and Johannesburg are the only participants from Africa.
The overarching goal of the LAB Project is to bring together cities from a range of global contexts, to explore the best ways for local governments to engage in effective biodiversity protection, utilisation and management. To this end the underlying specific goals of the LAB Project include:
- Support of local biodiversity projects and initiatives
- Secure a declaration of commitment and intent to conserve and protect biodiversity at the local level
- Increasing global awareness at the local level of the importance of biodiversity
- Documentation and demonstration of global biodiversity best practice at the local level
- Documentation and demonstration of biodiversity management and implementation tools
- The preparation of a plan for rolling out global biodiversity programmes at the local level on a much wider scale
- Enhancing global networks, communication and sharing between cities on biodiversity issues
- Lobby for funding and other support from national and international agencies for biodiversity- related development projects
The LAB Project aims to profile and promote the importance of urban biodiversity through coordinating the sharing of experiences, successes and challenges from a diverse group of local governments from around the world. The LAB Project will explore the best ways for local governments to engage in urban biodiversity management and conservation. In addition, the LAB Project is a local government initiative, focusing on the key role that local authorities play now and will play in the future in conserving, utilising and managing the world’s biodiversity as well as retaining the relationship between people and nature.
The LAB project cities participate in the following five-step process, with the intention of achieving key biodiversity outcomes:
Step 1: Assess. Development of a biodiversity report that documents the current state of biodiversity and its management within each city. The Walvis Bay Biodiversity Draft Report will be available for viewing and public comments for three weeks on the municipality website: www.walvisbaycc.org.na
Step 2: Commit. Ensuring long-term commitment by city leadership to sustainable biodiversity management, through LAB project cities formally signing a local government biodiversity declaration.
Steps 3 and 4: Plan. Development of a 10-year biodiversity action plan and framework that will include commitments to biodiversity implementation plans and integration within broader city plans as well as LAB project cities’ formal acceptance of their 10-year biodiversity action plans and frameworks.
Step 5: Do. Implementation of five new on-the-ground biodiversity interventions by the end of the three-year project.
The Walvis Bay Local Action for Biodiversity Project is implemented in collaboration with various local stakeholders.
 For more information on the Walvis Bay Local Action for Biodiversity contact:
David Uushona: duushona@walvisbaycc.org.na
or Olavi Makuti: omakuti@walvisbaycc.org.na
Tel: +264 64 214 300
Fax: +264 64 214 310
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