A plan concocted to establish an unfenced wildlife conservation tourism park in Kunene is gaining traction, with its proponents saying all is in place to fully operationalise it.
The enterprise will see large tracts of communal land falling into private hands and conservancies.
Retired educator, farmer and unionist Amon Kapi is one of those at the forefront of the Ombonde People’s Park (OPP), an enterprise born in 2016.
During a recent media trip, Kapi said they are going ahead as planned to implement the OPP, which – at full speed – is expected to eradicate poverty in the Kunene region, particularly among communities in the concerned conservancies.
“The OPP will contribute to the tourism economy through the development of appropriate tourism attractions and products. [We] will ensure high-quality visitor experiences via its accommodation, wildlife, beautiful landscapes, natural attractions and tourism activities,” he added. At least six lodges and eight campsites have been earmarked for construction in different strategic locations of the park. What stands between the park and its implementation is the absent legislation. “Once the Wildlife and Protected Areas’ Management Bill has been passed by Parliament and gazetted as an Act, we will implement the plan because our legal documents are ready,” Kapi said.
“The Bill – to be enacted soon – will strengthen the legal powers of the community, acquire rights of exclusion, [and empower] OPP with own regulations [to] manage and control tourists, and the influx of people and livestock,” the acting Namibia National Farmers’ Union president said. The envisaged park extends to approximately 114 000 hectares.
The land in question will, however, not be fenced off, but will have unique demarcations which will set it apart through zonation.
The sought-after space is seen as an important biodiversity area, with largely undisturbed wildlife habitat.
The Integrated Rural Development and Nature Conservation (IRDNC) organisation is facilitating the project, to be funded by foreign investors. German investment
engine GIZ financed the recent trip.
The park will be the first of its kind. Unlike the existing national parks such as Etosha, the OPP will lie solely in the hands of the communities, at least at face value.
It will share borders with the #Khoadi-//Hoas Conservancy and the Hobatere tourism concession area to the east, and the Etendeka tourism concession area on the south. To the west, it borders the Anabeb conservancy, and to the north the multiple-use zones of the Ehirovipuka and Omatendeka conservancies.
“All local and regional stakeholders endorsed the project, including traditional authorities, conservancies and [members of the] community such as women for conservation, and Omatendeka and Ehirovipuka conservancy members down to block level… Traditional leaders authorised the inclusion of portions of each of the conservancies in the envisaged people’s park,” the career educator stressed.
His sentiments were echoed by another religious believer of the OPP’s potential – Tjavarekua Tjijahura.
He said while the OPP’s antagonists say it is a threat to their livelihoods and threatens to steal their ancestral land, the contrary is true, as the park, once fully functional, will unchain residents of Ehirovipuka, Omatendeka and Anabeb conservancies from poverty through employment-creation and other benefits.
Otjokavare headman Keripandjarera German Muzuma, who was also part of the media tour, has endorsed the park’s establishment.
He said they must benefit from natural resources (wildlife and beautiful landscapes) bequeathed to them by their forebears.
Resistance
Some communities and conservancies in the region have outrightly rejected the planned park to protect certain portions of communal land where wild animals roam freely. In their latest petition, seen by this paper, the status quo remains: “No to OPP”.
“The fact that land will be made a protected area is a nightmare for the inhabitants who have been using the area for farming and as a source of living, amidst a rapid increase of the population and young farmers emerging.
“While we are fighting to regain our ancestral land, the IRDNC is here selling our little communal land we have been left with by our forefathers to be a protected area, and we will not tolerate it. We regard the Ombonde proposed park as Bwabwata [national park] in reference to the leaked management plan.
“The only land that we are left with is very scarce and narrow as it is bordered by the Etosha National Park, the Hobatere concession area and the Redline. For that reason, we cannot entertain another park to be imposed on us,” community members say in a petition to Cabinet ministers Calle Schlettwein [land reform] and Pohamba Shifeta [tourism].
The latest petition is dated 21 February 2023. For some quarters of the Ehirovipuka conservancy, what appears to be a bona fide project on paper has ulterior motives. Proper consultations were also not done to take them into confidence, they say. “Our land is being sold to foreigners under the table… The whole nation is fighting to regain their ancestral land. Thus, we do not want to give away the little land we have been left with by our forefathers,” the community said in an earlier petition in 2021.
Residents of the Ehirovipuka conservancy share a border with the notorious veterinary cordon fence, which divides the north from the south. However, these claims were rubbished by Kapi, who said extensive consultations with communities have been done since 2016, and continue to this day.
“It is a lie that land will be taken away. Taken away by who and from whom? This is communal land, and we all know it is not for sale. The community will make the rules themselves. It is better for us to try this initiative, and either fail or succeed at it.
“The problem currently is that tourists come here, and drive through Ombonde free of charge. We don’t benefit from these wonderful resources. With the OPP, what we are saying is, we must at least charge a fee. Even that N$2 [figurative], will make a difference in our people’s lives. If we realise that the park is to our detriment, we will discontinue it. But there is no harm in trying. We must become self-sustaining. We can’t live from handouts forever,” he emphasised.
Should the OPP become a reality, petitioners added, future farming generations will have no grazing areas left.
To this, Kapi asserted that it is not true.
“Already now, no one grazes on the land earmarked for the OPP. We only graze there during extreme drought seasons, and we do have arrangements in place. It is done orderly. Even if the park comes, that tradition will continue. It will just be done in an orderly manner, which has been happening anyway. So, if anyone doesn’t want the park, they are misinformed.”
Plan
The park’s draft management plan was developed by the Ehirovipuka and Omatendeka conservancies and their traditional authorities under the umbrella of the Kunene Regional Conservancy Association. The IRDNC provided technical assistance, documents show.
The OPP, its advocates say, serves as a corridor for wildlife populations from the Etosha National Park, the Hobatere tourism concession area through to Etendeka, the Palmwag concession areas and the Skeleton Coast Park. Surrounding conservancies such as #Khoadi-//Hoas, Torra, Anabeb and Sesfontein also form part of the park’s agenda.
Attractions
Some of the park’s attraction sites include the Khowarib Gorge, a spectacular gorge of towering cliffs of sheer dolomite rocks in the Khowarib escarpment.
Another is the Klein Serengeti, which is a large flat plain fringed by rocky hills without trees named after the Serengeti plain in central-east Africa.
The elephant rocks, which are huge dark elephant-shaped rocks, themselves are a scenic area north of the Ombonde River. Some rock paintings are likewise found there.
Topping the list is the Makalani palms in Palmfontein, which is a dense picturesque line of trees in a long stretch of permanent springs, fringed in places by stunning rock walls. The oasis attracts diverse birdlife and wildlife.
Rules
If it becomes a reality, access for tourists will only be allowed from the Palmfontein and Omungunda control points, where they will be expected to pay a certain fee.
There are proposed rules for conservancy members residing at the park. “No unauthorised grazing by livestock will be allowed in the park. Conservancy members may be granted permission to enter the park for temporary grazing purposes under specified circumstances. Livestock owners, who are members of the Ehirovipuka or Omatendeka conservancies, in times of extreme drought, should jointly engage their conservancies to request access to grazing in the park,” reads some of the rules.
Additionally, no new permanent structures from cement, bricks or stones may be erected without the permission of park management.
“No trees may be cut for fencing posts or homesteads (or for any other purpose) without the permission of park management. No boreholes may be drilled without the permission of park management… no donkeys or horses may enter the park, unless approved by park management,” the draft plan continues. The management plan is valid from 2019 to 2023.
– emumbuu@nepc.com.na