Kwando Carnivore

Funding: Panthera, National Geographic Big Cat Initiative, WWF in Namibia, WWF Germany and private donors.

Partners: MET, IRDNC, NNF, WWF Namibia, Panthera, TOSCO, National Geographic Big Cat Initiative, Predator Conservation Trust

Starting date: 2008

Contact person: Lise Hanssen (Project Coordinator)

The Kwando Carnivore Project is based in the Zambezi Region and works on applied research and conservation of large carnivores in the Zambezi and Kavango Regions.  Field work takes place in the protected areas as well as the conservancies of the Mudumu Complexes.   The Mudumu Complex is a mosaic landscape and an important area of connectivity for wildlife between parks in neighbouring countries.  As this landscape is shared by people and wildlife, a  large part of our efforts focus on human carnivore conflict mitigation.  We work closely with MET, NGO’s, conservancies and other partners to achieve our goals.  

Our field work includes regular spoor and camera trap surveys in order to monitor the large carnivore populations of the Zambezi  and Kavango Regions.  We sometimes deploy GPS/Satellite collars if we have certain questions that will further our conservation goal.  Currently we are studying how young male lions disperse through the human dominated landscape in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment, Panthera and WWF in Namibia.

Conflict efforts include building lion-proof kraals to protect cattle from lions that move outside of park boundaries.  We also use mobile kraals to protect cattle that are left outside to graze on harvested fields at night.  We hope to soon collaborate on holistic rangeland work that is taking place in pilot sites in the Mudumu South Complex.

The Kwando Carnivore Project started out by studying the population ecology of spotted hyaenas in the Zambezi Region.  Currently we research and monitor all the large carnivores species in the region as well as collaborate across international borders in the greater KAZA TFCA landscape.

Mountain Zebra Project

Funding: Rufford Foundation, Parc Zoologique de Montpellier, Gaia Nature Fund.
Partners: Namibia Nature Foundation, Ministry of Environment and Tourism (MET), Gondwana Canyon Park, Ai-Ais/Fish River National Park, NamibRand Nature Reserve, Büllsport Guest Farm, Namib-Naukluft National Park, Gondwana Namib Park, Solitaire Land Trust, Hobatere Tourist Concession and Etosha National Park, University of Newcastle.
Starting date: 2005
Contact person: Professor Morris Gosling.

The Mountain Zebra Project is co-ordinated by Professor Morris Gosling of the University of Newcastle, UK, in partnership with landowners and conservationists who share the aims of mountain zebra conservation, of scientifically based management and of affection for this tough and charismatic species. The Project started in 2005 in Gondwana Canyon Park and the neighbouring /Ai-/Ais National Park and, in order to provide comparative information in areas of different rainfall, has subsequently expanded to NamibRand Nature Reserve, the Namib-Naukluft National Park, the Gondwana Namib Park, Büllsport Guest Farm, the Solitaire Land Trust, the Hobatere Tourist Concession area and Etosha National Park.

Hartmann’s mountain zebra (Equus zebra hartmannae) is Namibia’s only large mammal endemic (except for small numbers in southern Angola and northern RSA) and is a Specially Protected Species in Namibia. It is a subspecies of mountain zebra and together with the Cape mountain zebra (E.z.zebra) in South Africa is of global conservation importance (IUCN Red List Category: Vulnerable). While Hartmann’s populations in Namibia are healthier and more widespread than Cape mountain zebra, they are vulnerable to severe droughts, particularly where fences prevent movement to scarce grazing.

The aim of the Mountain Zebra Project is to promote the study of mountain zebras for scientifically based population management and as a flagship species for wider ecosystem conservation in Namibia. Like many large mammals in human-dominated landscapes, mountain zebras have a complex relationship with people. They are a threatened sub-species and in places suffer from unsustainable exploitation, but they can also become locally abundant and cause overgrazing, particularly in the arid, fragile habitats that are typical of most of their range in Namibia and where their natural predators have been reduced or eliminated. In addition to their significance as an iconic member of Africa’s equids and deserving of conservation in their own right, they are also an economic resource of great value when properly managed. They represent a subtle variation on the equid theme and their biology, including the population processes that underpin variation in abundance contains many unsolved problems.

Zebra stripe patterns, like human fingerprints, are individually distinct and once photographed in a standardised way, animals can be followed throughout life. This allows an individual- based approach, a suite of techniques now widely used in behavioural and population biology, and provides the basis for quantifying such key processes as age-dependent survivorship which is needed to understand and model population dynamics. Mountain zebra are water-dependent and camera traps set at waterholes are being used to monitor entire populations and their movements, even those in inaccessible mountainous areas such as the Naukluft extension of the Namib-Naukluft NP, a mountainous area that was designated for mountain zebra conservation. Mountain zebra are also monitored in Etosha National Park with the help of ‘citizen scientists’. Visitors to the Park submit their photographs of mountain zebra and individual zebra are identified and used to track life-histories and for mark-recapture estimates of the population. 

Progress Reports:

Mountain Zebra Project Progress Report 2016

Mountain Zebra Project Progress Report 2018

Further information can be found at https://www.facebook.com/EtoshaHMZ.

Above: Bachelor group of Hartmann’s mountain zebra in Etosha National Park

Vultures Namibia

Funding: Donations from Namibian businesses and individuals, fund-raising dinners in Windhoek and Swakopmund.
Contact persons: Peter Bridgeford This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Holger Kolberg This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Mark Boorman This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Introduction to the Vultures Namibia projects
In Namibia, five species are found and one is extinct.

Human activities have had a severe impact on vultures all over the world through:

• Habitat destruction and degradation.
• Poisoning
• Electrocution
• Drowning in farm reservoirs.
• Disturbance at colonies.
• Direct persecution by means of shooting and gin trapping.
• Illegal collection of birds, bird parts and eggs for traditional medicine and trade.

Vultures are primarily scavengers. They not only prevent the spread of disease from dead animals but also provide the farming community with a service by disposing of livestock carcasses. The alternative is to burn or bury the carcass, both time-consuming and expensive. Vultures in the sky draw the farmer's attention to dead animals on his farm, often domestic stock, an important factor on the huge properties in Namibia. It is thus important to ensure that existing vulture populations are able to continue to survive, despite the pressure of human activities.

Aims and Objectives of the Project
Promote vulture conservation amongst the farming and rural communities of Namibia.

• Assess the population status of Namibian vultures through monitoring of breeding populations.
• Resolve any human/vulture conflicts on an ongoing basis.
• Maintain the awareness and education campaign amongst the public in Namibia.

Details of the projects
Namib-Naukluft Park
Vulture populations cannot be censused in the way of plain's game or other large animals. However, by censusing breeding birds and comparing the annual breeding rate in an area, the health of a population can be determined without counting the total population. This project in the Namib-Naukluft Park started in 1991. Vultures Namibia has been doing annual aerial surveys to find the nests of breeding Lappet-faced Vultures since 2001.

On commercial farms
The project on commercial farms involves the farmer, his family and workers and brings the plight of vultures to the notice of these people. This project has been very successful because it involves the people living on the land and is a ‘hands-on’ project.

Vultures Namibia is a non-profit organization, staffed by volunteers. All funds are used for ringing and monitoring the endangered and threatened vultures and not for salaries or gratuities. All funds are channelled through the Namibia Nature Foundation (NNF) and their accounts are audited annually.
Funds can be deposited directly in the Vultures Namibia account at the NNF:
NNF Sundry Trust

Nedbank Namibia

Main branch 461-617

Account: 11 00 00 49 86 9
Reference: Vultures Namibia

Crane and Raptor Working Groups

Overview

Namibia Nature Foundation (NNF) supports two working groups who focus on the conservation of Namibia's birdlife and their habitats.

Namibia Crane Working Group

This working group was formed in May 2004 as a result of a concern for the continued survival of Namibia's crane species and their habitats. The group has drawn up a Namibia Crane Action Plan and is working to put this plan into action to conserve cranes and their habitats in partnership with the people who share these habitats.

Activities include effective communication, supported by regular newsletters, crane counts, local crane awareness surveys, guide training, and planning of a crane/wetland-based tourist route in the north. Sightings of cranes (including any ring combinations) are welcome: please see the link to the flyer below for details. Note that newsletters No. 1-52 are available on request from email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Flyers:

Crane Poster English 2016

Crane Poster Oshiwambo 2016

Report Your Blue Crane Ring Resightings

Newsletters and Articles:

Namibia Crane News No53, April 2015 

Namibia Crane News No54, Nov 2015

Namibia Crane News No55, May 2016

Namibia Crane News No56, Dec 2017

Namibia Crane News No57, Sep 2018

"Etosha's Exclusive Blue Cranes" published in the Travel News Namibia Autumn 2018 pg. 73

Raptors Namibia Working Group

Namibia's vultures, other diurnal raptors and owls are increasingly under threat from factors such as disturbance, particularly at breeding sites; the misuse of poisons and pesticides; electrocution and collisions with overhead lines; habitat degradation; persecution; illegal harvesting; and drowning in reservoirs. The Raptors Namibia working group was established in 2005. The group focus on six key priority areas :

• Promote co-ordination and communication with key stakeholders
• Obtain information/data
• Promote awareness and education
• Manage raptor populations and habitats by addressing threats
• Build capacity
• Define protocols and policy and promote the enforcement of legislation

Namibia Botanical Research Institute (NBRI)

The NNF ensures that the financial contributions are used exclusively for measures within the scope of the projects, as stipulated in the project agreements between the donors and NBRI. 

The NNF manages the funds of the following NBRI Projects:

Gene Bank Fund

Millenium Seed Bank Project and

National Herbarium

Namibia Rhino

Environmental Publication

Large Carnivore Management Association of Namibia (LCMAN)

Funding: LCMAN depends on membership fees to sustain its operations.

Full members: Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF), Namibia Professional Hunters Association (NAPHA), Leibniz Institute for Wildlife Research (IZW), NamibRand Nature Reserve  Naankuse Foundation, Erindi Game Reserve, Africat Foundation and Ongava Research Center

Associate members: Kwando Carnivore Project, Brown Hyena Research Project, CANAM/Namibia Agricultural Union (NAU), Kiripotib, LRC Wildlife Conservation, Mr. Quintin Hartung

Student member: Mr. Chavoux Luyt 

Starting date: 2001

Contact person: Dr Laurie Marker  of CCF is the current Chairperson. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Project summary

Namibia supports a diverse assemblage of free ranging large carnivore including lions, leopards, cheetah, spotted hyena, brown hyena, painted dogs and caracal. The Large Carnivore Management Association of Namibia (LCMAN) comprises a group of organisations that have come together to form a not-for-profit Association to promote and support the long-term conservation of healthy populations of large carnivores in Namibia. Namibia Nature Foundation’s role as a project partner is to manage LCMAN’s funds and provide support in the form of technical input, administration and co-ordination.

LCMAN’s Vision is to promote and support the long-term conservation and sustainable utilization of healthy populations of large carnivores.

The Purpose of the Association is to foster and enhance collaboration and cooperation by the members, and where relevant, to align and harmonise their planning, methodologies, approaches, implementation, information and advocacy to effectively implement its Vision and Objectives.

The main Objectives are:

• To promote an understanding of large carnivores, their biology, ecology, roles and values in ecosystems, interactions with people (and their production systems), and conservation requirements
• To serve as a national body of expertise and as a point of reference for all matters concerning large carnivores, including legal, policy, management, research and related issues
• To advocate for and on behalf of large carnivore conservation, to ensure that sound research-based information and management is applied, as well as ethical practices in all aspects of large carnivore management, conservation, research, reintroductions, housing, utilization and related issues
• To facilitate and encourage the co-ordination of large carnivore conservation, research and management in Namibia.

The Carnivores LCMAN works with:

Namibia supports a diverse assemblage of free ranging large carnivore including:

Lions

Leopards

Cheetah

Spotted Hyena

Brown Hyena

Painted Dogs

Caracal

What LCMAN can provide:

• Solutions to livestock depredation
• Resolutions for game farmers
• Advice to maintain human safety
• Information about carnivores

EU Fisheries Project

Community Conservation Fisheries in KAZA

Funding: European Union, additional funding - SASSCAL/NNF/SAREP/SAIAB.

Partners: Government Fisheries Department (Zambia), Okavango Research Institute, University of Namibia.

Date: Started in January 2013 till Jine 2018.

Contact person: Britta Hackenberg

Summary

Community-based management of river and floodplain fisheries in rivers and floodplains in the Upper Zambezi, Chobe and Okavango catchments in Namibia, Zambia and Botswana.

The purpose of the project is to contribute to environmental conservation and to improve socio-economic benefits and food security, especially for women, children and the rural poor through capacity building and the development of regional and international networking platforms.

Main activities

• Using lessons learned from current NNF Project in Caprivi, Namibia, to develop similar community based management systems for other fisheries areas in the Zambezi, Chobe and Okavango River Systems
• Establish fishery committees at local level for different fishery areas.
• Establish cross border steering committees at different levels (communities, conservancies, local authorities, government departments/ministries, etc.) to enhance communication links and facilitate information exchange to improve fisheries management.
• Promote harmonization of fisheries legislation between countries.
• Exchange visits carried out with neighbouring communities (regional and international) to discuss best practices and lessons learned, and to develop comprehensive management plans and formal agreements.
• Capacity building in fisheries management, particularly at local community level but also at local government level and in fisheries departments.
• Identify suitable sites for Fish Protected Areas (FPAs) based on habitat suitability for key fish species.
• Community capacity building in monitoring and evaluation of FPAs.
• Engage with communities to halt the use of destructive fishing gears.
• Support for expansion of Namibian fish ranching programme into suitable water bodies in neighbouring countries.
• Facilitate and coordinate research programmes on the fish, fisheries, and dependent communities in each country.

Target groups

All conservancies in Namibia in the project area:Setting up of fisheries committees and establishing management programmes, establishment of FPAs, developing by-laws guided by the project and in partnership with MFMR.
Other fishing communities in Namibia in areas not covered by conservancies: Develop partnerships through the establishment of fisheries committees under guidance by project in close cooperation with MFMR, Traditional Authorities and Regional Councils.
Community trusts in Zambia: Setting up of fisheries committees and establishing management programmes, establishment of FPAs, developing bye-laws guided by the project and in partnership with the Barotse Royal Establishment and the Department of Fisheries.
Other fishing communities in Zambia in areas not covered by community trusts:Develop partnerships through the establishment of fisheries committees under guidance by project in close cooperation with DoF, Barotse Royal Establishment and other relevant local and traditional authorities.
Fishing communities in Botswana:Develop partnerships through the establishment of fisheries committees under guidance by project in close cooperation with fisheries departments and other relevant research institutes, as well as local and traditional authorities.
Project associates

Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA), University of Hull International Fisheries Institute (Professor I.G. Cowx), South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity, Government Fisheries Departments (Botswana, Zambia and Namibia), Government Fisheries Department Angola, African Wildlife Foundation, World Wildlife Fund.

This Project is funded by The European Union

AUS DAP FISH - NNF Consultancy

Support Integrated Fisheries Management in the two existing Fish Protected Areas (FPA's) and support the establishment of additional three FPA's. 

Funding: The Direct Aid Programme (DAP)

Date: 2019

Contact person: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Project Background

Following many years of research and community support, NNF's interventions on fisheries have resulted in the Sikunga and Impalila conservancies establishing pilot FPA's on the Zambezi River which were subsequently formally designated as "Fish Reserves" by the government. The success of these areas in local stock recoveries has generated significant interest from surrounding communities to also establish their own FPA's. At the same time, Sikunga and Impalila face challenges of managing their FPA's. 

Summary

The project aims at providing continued support to the existing FPA's with better integrated management and helping to channel corporate interest from lodges into longer term sustainable partnerships. In addition, there is the need to assist surrounding communities to establish their own FPA's. 

The project also aims for the following: 

- Strengthen community ownership over FPA's

- Better stakeholder collaboration in the co-management of FPA's.

- Assisting neighbouring communities to properly gazette FPA's

Support cross-border dialogue for better transboundary management of the fisheries. 

Activities:

- On-going support to the existing FPA's - mainly supporting adn collating community monitoring of fish catches; fish guard activities in conjunction with the authorities and partnerships with private lodges and tourism operators. In addition, support cross-border dialogue. 

- Support stakeholder meetings, dialogue and steps towards the establishment of new FPA's, much of this has already been initiated under the current project but will need to be carried forward through 2019 to ensure gazetting. 

Integrated Co-management Fisheries Resources

Funding: WWF Norway

Partners: Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources, NNF, WWF 

Project dates: January 2010 to December 2012

Project details

The fish resources of the Zambezi and Chobe rivers and associated Caprivi floodplains are both a vital component of the livelihoods of the floodplain inhabitants and a major angling tourist attraction. Fish is thus a major contributor to food security and the local economy.

Improved communications in the area and consequent increased commercialisation of the fishery was identified as a major threat to rural livelihoods and to aquatic biodiversity through over-exploitation of the larger fish species that are most valuable for both food and for angling tourism. Concerns were expressed by the local fishing communities and by the tourist organisations that the fishery was in serious decline as a result of widespread use of illegal and destructive fishing methods, and the results of monitoring programmes carried out since 1997 by the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources confirmed over-exploitation of the large tilapiine cichlid species.

The Zambezi/Chobe fisheries project was thus conceived as a way of empowering the local communities to manage the resources in a sustainable way through the formation of local management committees and devolution of responsibility for management, as envisaged in the Namibian constitution and the Inland Fisheries White Paper. The project set out to facilitate management of the fisheries by developing a system of integrated co-management and, because the Zambezi fishery is a shared resource with Zambia, harmonisation of activities and cooperation in surveys and monitoring. It has always been acknowledged that this type of activity requires a long term commitment. After the first phase of the project ended in December 2009, the second phase ran from January 2010 to December 2012. Management of the project was shared between Mr D. Tweddle as Project Executant and Dr C. Hay as Project Co-executant.

Project outputs

Output 1: Cross-border collaboration achieved in management of the fisheries resources.

Output 2: Management plan for the fisheries developed during Project Phase 1 successfully implemented (in collaboration with neighbouring countries) for the benefit of the communities.

Output 3: Fish Protection Areas established and fully functional in targeted pilot communities.

Output 4: Tourist angling lodges operating in agreement with local fishing/conservancy committees.

Output 5: Capacity built in research and monitoring of fish resource.

Output 6: Collaboration in next phase of NNF fish ranching project.

NBSAP

Recosting and Refinement of the Costs to Fully Implement Namibia’s Second National Biodiversity Strategy Action Plan (NBSAP2)

Funding: GIZ’s ResMob Project (Resource Mobilisation for Biodiversity Conservation) on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the German Federal Ministry for the Environment

Starting date: 2017

Contact person: Angus Middleton This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or Courtney McLaren  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Alternatively, our office number: 061 248345. 

Summary:
The NNF has been working with the BioFin methodology, developed by the UNDP, to re-cost Namibia’s second NBSAP (national biodiversity strategies and action plan) to produce a more accurate and disaggregated costing. NBSAPs are the primary tool, at the national level, for countries who have ratified the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) to meet their commitments. Namibia is currently mid-way through its second NBSAP (2012 -2021) with its strategic goals and targets aligning with those of the CBD’s Aichi Targets and 129 specific activities having been identified for implementation.

These activities and their respective targets had been estimated to cost just under 500 million NAD in 2013 (or 606 million NAD in today’s currency). This estimate has been considered inadequate and thus NNF was commissioned to achieve the following three objectives:

• Evaluate which resources are needed in relation with what has been budgeted to allow a successful implementation of NBSAP2
• Re-calculation and refinement of the costs be based on the UNDP-BIOFIN guidelines
• Identify and propose the correction of shortcomings of the initial NBSAP2 costing

The BIOFIN methodology looks to guide accurate budgeting for long term biodiversity related projects by facilitating the disaggregation of estimated costs for all activities in an NBSAP by year and budget line item.

The final analysis found the NBSAP2’s initial estimated costs had been substantially underestimated, with the re-costed total of 7.4 billion being over 12 times that of the initial NBSAP2 estimate. Further it was found that should the targets of Namibia’s NBSAP2 be achieved by the end of the NBSAP2 ten year period, twice the investment made in the first five years would be required during the remaining five years of Namibia’s NBSAP2.

The draft report was submitted in September and its findings have been presented at MET to both the GIZ ResMob team, the NBSAP Stakeholder Meeting in October and will shortly be circulated for feedback from relevant stakeholders. The results will be presented in further detail at the GIZ/MET ResMob Stakeholder Dialogue on November 23^rd. A policy brief and BIOFIN methodology workshops for MET technical staff are also underway.

MINAMATA