REPUBLIC OF NAMIBIA
MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT AND TOURISM
STATEMENT BY HON. NETUMBO NANDI-NDAITWAH, MP
MINISTER
AT THE OFFICIAL CELEBRATIONS ON THE OCCASION OF THE
101ST ANNIVERSARY OF THE NAMIB-NAUKLUFT PARK
11 OCTOBER 2008
10H30
GOBABEB, NAMIB-NAUKLUFT
PARK
ERONGO REGION
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Honourable Director of Ceremonies
Honourable Ministers
Honourable Governor of Erongo Region
Your Worships the Mayors of Walvis Bay and Swakopmund
Dr Mary Seely
Mr Albi Bruckner
Permanent Secretary Dr Kalumbi Shangula
Chief Seth Kooitjie of the Topnaar Traditional Authority and members
of the Topnaar community
Members of the Board of the Gobabeb Training and Research Centre
Officials from various ministries
Members of the tourism sector
Staff of my Ministry
Staff of the Gobabeb Training and Research Centre
Members of the Media
All Protocol Observed
Last year the Ministry of Environment and Tourism, together with
Namibians everywhere, was proud to celebrate the centenary of
Etosha National Park and one hundred years of formal conservation
in Namibia.
We have walked a long road since early measures were taken to
protect our precious natural resources and landscapes. Today our
efforts are noted as exemplary throughout the continent, as was
noted at the recent Leadership for Conservation in Africa meeting
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held in Etosha, as well as internationally. We are forming
partnerships with businesses, NGOs, communities, and across
borders to ensure the sustainable management of our resources for
the benefit of present and future generations.
It is indeed a special honour to celebrate with you today the one
hundred and first anniversary of one of two of Namibia’s oldest
conservation areas.
The Namib-Naukluft Park was first proclaimed in March 1907 under
German colonial rule by Governor von Lindequist as Game Reserve
Number Three. It measured an area of about ten thousand square
kilometres (10 000 km2) and encompassed most of what is now the
central Namib or northern portion of the park. Initially the German
colonial government established the Namib Game Reserve as a
buffer zone to restrict English sovereignty to Walvis Bay.
A series of alterations were made to the park boundaries. I will
highlight some of the most notable. Sandwich Harbour was added in
1941 while the Welwitschia plains and areas to the west were added
in 1968 to extend the area to a size of fourteen thousand square
kilometres (14 000 km²). In 1979, the Namib Desert Park and the
Naukluft Mountain Zebra Park were consolidated with the addition of
the north-eastern portion of Diamond Area number two (#2). Several
farms located around the Naukluft Mountains were purchased by the
Department of Nature conservation to join the two parks.
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In 1986 the remainder of Diamond Area number two was added and
a portion of Diamond Area number one north of the Aus/ Lüderitz
road. Three years later Cabinet amended the terminology in the 1986
amendment to add the remainder of Diamond Area Number Two and,
with a small amendment made to the borders in 1990, the current
boundaries were finalised. The park currently measures nearly fifty
thousand square kilometres in size. And there are future plans to
possibly link this park with other neighbouring conservation areas
which I will elaborate on later in this speech.
At first the Namib Desert may seem like a dry and desolate place. Yet
the ancient landscape with its stark beauty and unusual biodiversity
that for so long remained largely inaccessible has become the park’s
greatest asset. The world’s oldest desert boasts attractions such as
the much photographed dunes at Sossusvlei and the Sesriem
Canyon, the Welwitschia Trail with an ancient Welwitschia estimated
to be over one thousand, five hundred (1 500) years old, and the
majestic Naukluft Mountains, with a popular hiking trail and four by
four (4x4) route.
These attractions also play a pivotal role in our economy, contributing
to our Gross Domestic Product and providing employment in the
many lodges and accommodation establishments surrounding the
park. After Etosha National Park, the dunes at Sossusvlei are the
second most visited attraction in the country. A total of seventy nine
thousand, five hundred and thirty five (79 535) visitors visited the
dunes at Sossusvlei last year, consisting of fifty six thousand, nine
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hundred and ninety six (56 996) foreign visitors, thirteen thousand,
five hundred and eighty seven (13 587) visitors from SADC countries
and eight thousand nine hundred and fifty two (8 952) Namibians.
According to statistics from our Swakopmund office, more than
twenty six thousand visitors toured the Central Namib regions last
year, with a record four thousand and fifteen tourists visiting the area
in August this year. These are statistics from our coastal office and do
not include permits from our Windhoek office.
And, with new plans afoot to proclaim the Walvis Bay area as a
National Park, Namibia could soon have the largest Protected Area
network in the world, stretching from the Kunene River mouth with the
Skeleton Coast Park, through the National West Coast Recreation
Area, soon to be upgraded to a National Park, through the Walvis
Bay dune Belt Area, the Namib-Naukluft Park, the soon to be
proclaimed Sperrgebiet National Park to the /Ai-/Ais Richtersveld
Transfrontier Conservation Area.
A consultancy is currently underway to:
 Develop best practice guidelines for management plans in
coastal protected areas
 Develop proper zonation plans for the Walvis Bay
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Swakopmund area to facilitate the proclamation of this area as
a National Park
 Develop similar plans for the management and protection of the
West Coast Recreation Area
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 Review zonation and management plans for the Namib Naukluft and Skeleton Coast parks to ensure sustainable landuse and protection of sensitive environments
 Develop regulations for the protected areas to ensure inclusion
of newly developed use zones and protected environments.

The proclamation of the Walvis Bay - Swakopmund area as a
National Park (which has been made by Cabinet) will be
supported by this consultancy which is developing use-zones
within the area, and regulations for each zone to ensure
sensitive environments are protected adequately and natural
resources are used sustainably, ensuring all stakeholders can
enjoy sustainable benefits from the area.
Director of ceremonies, Ladies and Gentlemen, I am quite aware of
exploration and mining activities in our protected areas, including the
Namib-Naukluft Park. The Ministry of Environment and Tourism is
pleased to announce the proclamation of the Environmental
Management Act, Number 7 of 2007. The passing of this Act is a
major milestone for the Ministry to establish a framework for the
conservation of biological diversity in Namibia and for the utilization of
its living and non-living natural resources on a sustainable basis.
This is in particularly true regarding the exploitation of our nonrenewable natural resources including mining. In accordance with this
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new legislation, all explorations and mining projects in protected
areas are subject to thorough Environmental Impact Assessments. I
would like to state here to the public that the MET is busy working on
the details for implementation and enforcement of the provisions of
this Act, especially as regards for both the strategic and site-specific
project levels that will all be included in the administrative provisions
of the regulations, guidelines and procedures as provided for under
section 56 (1) of this Act.
Director of ceremonies, Park staff should be commended for the
upkeep of the tourism facilities such as roads and campsites, as well
as for other ongoing duties such as mining and prospecting
inspections, maintaining waterholes, preventing poaching, fence
maintenance, and maintaining one of the neatest and exemplary
outstations in the country, being Ganab Station. I am particularly
pleased that staff have taken initiative and painted their own offices
themselves, using paint obtained from the SPAN project.
I wish to that the organising partners for making this event possible
which are the MET, Gobabeb Training and Research Centre,
Namibia Tourism, Fenata and Venture Publications and the
UNDP/GEF funded SPAN project.
To coincide with the one hundred and first anniversary of the park,
Venture Publications have produced a new publication on the Namib
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Desert. This book was designed to provide background to enhanced
understanding about the desert landscape and its values.
It highlights the contributions of the Gobabeb Training and Research
Centre where we are today, as well as the innovative conservation
approaches of farmers and tourism enterprises surrounding the
desert and its parks.
Although there have been many publications on the Namib, this book
has the most up-to-date information with a series of magnificent
photographs and has been printed locally, making it a truly Namibian
product we can be proud of.
I wish to congratulate the contributors and publishers of the book on
this fine achievement.
Ladies and gentlemen, I would also like to thank you all for joining us
here today in celebrating this hundred and first anniversary of our
magnificent Namib-Naukluft Park and would like to invite you all to
stay for lunch. With these words, I thank you.
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