Zambezi learners first on LAC advocacy radar for conservation and environmental protection
The Legal Assistance Centre has moved out of its purely pro deo ambit, taking on the role of environmental protection advocacy with local communities in the Zambezi. Last week it visited Mafuta Combined School and Silumbi Combined School, conducting 3-day workshops on climate change and adaptation measures, the ecosystem, biodiversity, wildlife crime and resource management.
These workshop visits are part of the GIZ-funded “Partnership against Poaching and Illegal Wildlife Trade.” It is done in partnership with various regional organisation and includes the screening of a local animation. Advocacy postcards to the presidency, and the planting of trees.
The school visits included the UNAM Katima Mulilo Wildlife Management and Ecoutourism department under the leadership of Ekkehard Klingelhoefer, the Regional Director for Education, Joy Mamili, and the Katima Mulilo Magistrate Court Public Prosecutor Diana Khama, a member of the Prosecutor General’s wildlife crime unit.
After talking to the pupils, Public Prosecutor Khama noted: “Thank you for having me. I really enjoyed it. The kids are really receptive to the information and it shows how important the work, that you do, is.”
More schools will be visited during September from Omega in the west to Impalila in the east. The focus of the next round of visits is wildlife protection.
In total, the LAC plans to engage learners from ten schools in the Zambesi region with the intention to create momentum for schools to establish their own eco or wildlife clubs, in the process engaging their communities with their crucial conservation message.
The project is funded by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit with additional support from Woermann & Brock We Care, SPAR Katima Mulilo, NeoPaints Namibia, the Pupkewitz Foundation, SlowTown Coffee, MegaShade Namibia, Sanlam, UNAM Katima Mulilo Campus, EduVentures, and the Konrad-Adenauer Foundation.
