Bringing life back to the rivers
The Namibia Nature Foundation (NNF) has released a short film, The River People, about the people of Sikunga and Impalila conservancy, who have taken action to restore their rivers and hope to inspire other to take similar steps.
The NNF informed that the short film was produced in Namibia, and it tells a story of how the river people from conservancies in Kavango and Zambezi managed to take action to restore their fish and river. “This story also highlights the hard work and dedication it took the river people from the first reserves in Sikunga and Impalila to be where they are today and they did it through collaborative work among themselves,” added the foundation.
The Foundation said they also got help from entrusted partners like the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources and the NNF through its project donors. “This short film confirms that when communities come together and take action to restore the fisheries to such an extent that they can reasonably expect to go to the river and catch some fish, to eat, to trade and to enjoy so that others can follow suit,” explained the NNF.
Since 2002, the NNF has steadily and systematically build up a knowledge base and expertise in management inland fisheries. Through the EU-funded Ecofish grant, communities located in the proposed KAZA transfrontier conservation area, are assissted to restore and strengthen their community fisherires.
This is part of an ongoing engagement between the NNF and the Zambezi conservancies to support sustainable fisheries management, for the long-term goal of restoring natural fisheries to a level where they contribute to the subsistance of the communities along the Zambezi and Chobe rivers.
Maintaining fisheries reserves is a key component of this project, and can only succeed when the communities are included as partners.
