A national youth climate action network was recently launched to promote radical youth-led climate actions across the country, addressing issues of climate change and water, agriculture, health, biodiversity, ecosystems, conservation and environmental management.
The Youth4CAN is open to any youth from the ages of 16 to 35, who are passionate to create change and be the change they want to see in the world.
CAN stands for Climate Action Namibia.
Director of Youth4CAN Toini Amutenya told Youth Corner yesterday that to kickstart their launch, they donated five bicycles with assistance from the environment ministry and development partners to the !Khob !Naub Conservancy in Keetmanshoop, //Kharas region.
Amutenya said the conservancy had been experiencing a lack of transport for game guards that would enable them to be in the field on time to do monitoring and evaluations, and complete the event book systems, which are a requirement of conservancies to complete for them to be able to be provided with quotas for wildlife utilisation.
“The bicycles are to be used to investigate the human-wildlife conflict in the conservancy and assist in terms of reporting these incidences in time to the line ministry. The bikes will also be used to investigate poaching incidences within the conservancies and patrol along the borders,” elaborated Amutenya.
The youth climate activist said the bicycles are the mountain terrain type, making them more durable. They were donated and assembled by a local bike and repair shop – Dbikes repair and sales.
Namibia holds a remarkable variety of species, habitats and ecosystems, ranging from deserts to subtropical wetlands and savannas.
Namibia is one of the few countries in Africa that has an internationally recognised “biodiversity hotspot”.
The climate is a principal resource in tourism in Namibia and determines activities and suitability for tourist activities.
Additionally, tourism tends to be seasonal, depending on climate conditions.
Therefore, climate change can have an impact on the viability of the tourism industry in the country. - psiririka@nepc.com.na