Environment ministry inaugurates four new park management stations
By Clifton Movirongo.
The Ministry of Environment, Forestry, and Tourism recently held a handover ceremony with the German Embassy for the inauguration of four brand new park management stations at Sprinkbokwasser, Ugab Mund, and Möwe Bay in the Kunene region as well the Cape Cross Seal Reserve in the Erongo region.
The Minister, Hon Pohamba Shifeta said they are working hard to establish parks as viable tourist destinations that will benefit the people who live alongside them.
He said these new stations are an addition to other facilities built through the German Development Cooperation in the south at Oranjemund, Lüderitz, Rosh Pinah, and Aus, for the development of the Tsau //Khaeb (Sperrgebiet) National Park, Shisinze in the Nkasa Rupara National Park, and Sikeretti Stations in the Khaudum National Park, at Buffalo Core Area, Shuno Station in Mudumu National Park, and some limited extended facilities at Ngenda and Susuwe Stations.
Shifeta expressed his delight to the German government for enabling the ministry to plan and build completely new park stations, as the inauguration of these park management stations is the latest outcome of the cooperation between the two governments.
The minister emphasized that the parks are managed for wildlife, biodiversity conservation and tourism for economic development of the country and improved livelihoods of the people.
The KfW Development Bank, on behalf of the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, co-financed the Namibia national parks programme, which is executed by the environment ministry.
Shifeta, who was speaking during the handover of ceremony at the coast, said the coastal parks of Cape Cross, Skeleton Coast, Dorob, and Namib Naukluft Park are part of what has become one of the longest protected coastlines in the world, stretching from the Iona National Park in southwestern Angola bordering the Skeleton Coast Park to the Ramsar Site at the Orange River.
Earlier phases of the programme centered on Namibia’s North- Eastern national parks as well as on the Tsau //Khaeb National Park in the former Sperrgebiet.
German Ambassador to Namibia, HE Herbert Beck said the provision of the modern park management stations will enable the environment ministry to fulfill its vision and mandate of preserving Namibia’s unique state-protected areas for the benefit of the global population.
