Conservancy wins UN prize

THE N≠a Jaqna conservancy and community forest in the Otjozondjupa Region is reaping the rewards for its drive to steward natural resources while working to wipe out poverty.

It is among the 25 winners of this year’s Equator Prize, a United Nations-led initiative that rewards the efforts of communities that link economic development with conservation. “This is an outstanding recognition of N≠a Jaqna and Namibian efforts in general to reduce poverty through successfully managing natural resources and through that, empowering communities,” Simon Nhongo, the UNDP Resident Co-ordinator in Namibia, said in Windhoek on Friday.Nhongo joined Environment and Tourism Minister Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah in handing over the prize and a N$46 000 cheque to the Chairperson of the N≠a Jaqna conservancy and community forest, Edward //Xari.The Equator Prize has been awarded every two years since 2002 and the Torra conservancy in the Kunene Region was the first conservancy in Namibia to win it.Minister Nandi-Ndaitwah said the award is confirmation that Namibia’s Community-Based Natural Resources Management (CBNRM) programme is successful.She said Namibia has gained worldwide respect for its innovative approach of linking conservation to poverty reduction through conservancy and pro-poor tourism initiatives.Conservancies are being established through the CBNRM programme of the Ministry of Environment and Tourism, which gives rights to rural communities to manage and derive benefits from natural resources in their environments.At present there are 52 registered communal conservancies in Namibia.The N≠a Jaqna conservancy was gazetted in July 2003 and covers an area of 9 120 square kilometres, with a population of about 7 000 people, mainly the San people in the Tsumkwe area.”This is an outstanding recognition of N≠a Jaqna and Namibian efforts in general to reduce poverty through successfully managing natural resources and through that, empowering communities,” Simon Nhongo, the UNDP Resident Co-ordinator in Namibia, said in Windhoek on Friday.Nhongo joined Environment and Tourism Minister Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah in handing over the prize and a N$46 000 cheque to the Chairperson of the N≠a Jaqna conservancy and community forest, Edward //Xari.The Equator Prize has been awarded every two years since 2002 and the Torra conservancy in the Kunene Region was the first conservancy in Namibia to win it.Minister Nandi-Ndaitwah said the award is confirmation that Namibia’s Community-Based Natural Resources Management (CBNRM) programme is successful.She said Namibia has gained worldwide respect for its innovative approach of linking conservation to poverty reduction through conservancy and pro-poor tourism initiatives.Conservancies are being established through the CBNRM programme of the Ministry of Environment and Tourism, which gives rights to rural communities to manage and derive benefits from natural resources in their environments.At present there are 52 registered communal conservancies in Namibia.The N≠a Jaqna conservancy was gazetted in July 2003 and covers an area of 9 120 square kilometres, with a population of about 7 000 people, mainly the San people in the Tsumkwe area.