additional negative impacts. Because quad bikes are prohibited in Namibia’s coastal parks, they concentrate in the central Namib between Walvis Bay and the Ugab River—the most sensitive stretch on the entire coastal zone. The NACOMA (Namibian Coast Conservation and Management) Project is now facilitating the regulation of general quad bike activity on the desert coast. A Contingency Management Plan has been prepared and a Contingency Management Committee (CMC) created to guide policy makers and authorities in dealing with the increased number of quad bikes descending on the coast annually.

The NACOMA (Namibian Coast Conservation and Management) Project is working together with the lead ministries, coastal regional councils to define the policy options that will guide the protection and use of the coast. A road show is about to kick off in all four coastal regions to inform and ensure the participation of all stakeholders in this crucial policy process.

Read on to find out more of the White Paper process, as well as the NACOMA project.

The Richtersveld conservancy – the heart of a world heritage site nomination:
The good news is that the Richtersveld Community Conservancy can be at the heart of a new World Heritage Site (WHS) not so far in the future. Since 2000, the people in the Richtersveld have been discussing the possibility of WHS status for the area. Now, after a feasibility study and a full nomination dossier, the Conservancy is awaiting the final decision from the World Heritage Committee of UNESCO. But what makes the Richtersveld so special? An enormous diversity of plants and the transhumance culture, which can hardly be found anywhere else on Earth, are only two of the attributes that may in the future be considered of global importance.

[ find out more ]

The problem of marine litter in the words of students in Walvis Bay
"A healthy community accommodates a healthy environment. We, as people of our beautiful Namibia, the future generation, must start and keep our beaches clean”. These are the words of students from Walvis Bay who participated in an essay competition around the theme of marine litter. Funded by the Municipality of Walvis Bay’s Environmental Fund, the school competition was a sequel to last year’s cleaning campaigns and will hopefully be a precursor to many more initiatives where we all become part of the solution.

[ find out more ]

DLIST has opened a new node in Lüderitz.
Like other DLIST nodes, the aim of the Lüderitz node is to provide space to exchange information, discuss, and network with the growing DLIST community—all to support participatory development and local initiatives. Yet every DLIST node is different as it meets local needs, so we look forward to seeing how the Lüderitz node will develop. If you are in the area, do come and bring us you ideas!

[ find out more ]

Ecoclub started in Port Nolloth
Recently the Museum Centre of Port Nolloth, in cooperation with DLIST-Benguela, started an Ecoclub for children between 9 and 12 years of age. At the Ecoclub meetings the children go on excursions and engage in experiments, observations of animals, games and craftworks—so these meetings are everything but ordinary school lessons! On the longer run it will be important to communicate with other Ecoclubs, so contact Nosipho to share your ideas.

[ find out more ]

Angolan NGO protecting the environment
In the heart of south-western Angola, ADRA (or Action for Rural Development and Environment) implements projects to support local development through civil education, use of local resources, and environmentally friendly agricultural practices. Our projects always integrate environmental goals, mainly through environmental education of communities. Farmers’ associations and cooperatives, youth and women groups, schools, and local and traditional power institutions, all participate. Examples of recent activities include tree planting and a capacity building workshop for primary school teachers showing how paper recycling and empty containers, cardboard and other waste can be used to prepare support teaching material.

[ find out more ]

The Disappearance of the West Coast
The west coast of South Africa and its communities are facing an increasing number of challenges. These challenges come in the form of coastal pollution, lack of access to the coast, poaching and illegal harvesting of crayfish, and lack of rehabilitation of mines… but mostly in the form of unwanted coastal developments. Read all about the community’s fight for their coast:
[ visit thread ]

Sol Kerzner Sets Sights on Namaqualand
A news post of Sol Kerzner proposing to build a luxury tourist resort along the remote Namaqualand coast sparked readers to action. View this article from the Sunday Times and its subsequent responses:
[ visit thread ]

Quad Bikes Everywhere
In our last issue readers were involved in a heated discussion over the issue of quad biking along the dunes in Elands Bay. This time round it is the turn of our Namibian readers, showing their utter disbelief at the disregard of quad bikers for the Namib deserts precious dunes.
[ visit thread ]

Namaqua Ecosystem Threatened
Read about the proposed merger between De Beers Mines and Alexkor that could result in halting the expansion of the Namaqua National Park.
[ visit thread ]

• Poverty and Tourism
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• Population-Development-Environment in Namibia
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• The Economic Impacts of Climate Change in South Africa: A Preliminary Analysis of Unmitigated Damage Costs
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• Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis - Summary for Policy Makers
  [ see details ]
• Tourism in the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area
  [ see details ]
• National Environmental Management Biodiversity Act 10 of 2004: Threatened or Protected Species Regulations
  [ see details ]