Siphiwe Lutibezi is the Communications Officer at WWF Namibia with a background in Environmental Biology and Nature Conservation. She has a master's degree in Natural Resources Management and is passionate about people and the environment. Siphiwe especially enjoys photography, and working with young people and sharing why nature matters.
The indigenous Khwe and !Xun San people living in Bwabwata National Park have few sources of income and are reliant on subsistence agriculture, which is highly vulnerable to climate change. Basket weaving is a traditional practice that offers a climate resilient way of generating cash income. WWF Namibia and Omba Arts Trust have therefore partnered with San women living in Bwabwata to weave and sell their baskets on national and international markets. These women are taking the opportunity to improve their livelihoods and support their families with both hands – literally and figuratively.
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Under the 2022 Earth Hour theme Shape Our Future, 57 young adults from 23 communal conservancies were trained and empowered to become stewards of nature and create awareness among their communities. In just a few months, they recorded 380 biodiversity records, held meetings and events in their conservancies and started a national Youth in Conservation movement that has a bright future.
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The COVID-19 pandemic has hit Namibia hard, both in terms of human life and economics. The abrupt end of international tourism came as a particular economic shock to communal conservancies that rely heavily on photographic and hunting tourism to fund their conservation efforts. These rural communities were highly vulnerable to job and income losses, and community conservation efforts were in peril. In response, the government and many international and national partners stepped in to create the Conservation Relief, Recovery and Resilience Facility that is designed to assist the conservancies and their tourism partners to survive this economic shock.
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Several global reports on wildlife conservation have a bearing on Namibia and the broader southern African region. Siphiwe Lutibezi takes a look at the Living Planet Report and other recent global reports and applies some of the lessons learned to the Namibian situation.
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Namibian communal conservancies rely on tourists visiting lodges and campsites located in their areas. The Namibian Association of CBNRM Support Organisations (NACSO) has re-designed a website aimed at marketing tourism in conservancies to attract new visitors.
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