Absalom Shigwedha
WINDHOEK – The Ministry of Environment and Tourism (MET) is in the process of developing a new biodiversity conservation project which will focus on developing an economy based on the commercialisation of indigenous animals and plants in selected landscapes.
This was announced by Environment and Tourism Deputy Minister, Bernadette Jagger, when she officially opened a one-day final stakeholders’ dialogue on Namibia’s draft Resource Mobilisation Strategy for Biodiversity Conservation, held in Windhoek last week.
The strategy was developed through the Resource Mobilisation for Biodiversity Conservation (Resmob) project, which is jointly implemented by MET and the German Technical Cooperation (GIZ) – commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation, Buildings and Nuclear Safety.
Jagger said the new project is to be known as Bio Economy in Selected Landscapes. “We look forward to sharing the progress in developing this project with you today and receiving your inputs so that it is reflective of our national priorities and improves the livelihoods of our rural communities,” said Jagger.
Martin Nowack, the team leader for the Resmob project, which comes to an end this year, said the bio-economy project is still in the preparation phase and efforts will be made to make sure that stakeholders are actively involved in its conceptual design.
The Resmob project started in 2013 and mainly focused on natural capital accounting, capacity building and resource mobilisation for biodiversity conservation.
The overarching goal of the project is to improve Namibia’s capacity in mobilising resources for biodiversity conservation, specifically to enable the country to implement the objectives outlined it its NBSAP 2 and Action Plan and fulfil its obligations under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) as well as to enhance biodiversity conservation efforts.
The CBD has three objectives, namely, the conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of its components and the fair and equitable benefit sharing arising from the commercial utilisation of genetic resources and related traditional knowledge.