Game Count Results Lift Lid on ‘Brutal Truths’

INGRID MANDTSHOCK HAS rippled through Namibian conservation circles following the recent release of the 2021 game count numbers by the Namibian Association of CBNRM Organisations (Nacso).

Namibians, ranging from former nature conservation rangers and seasoned tour operators to subsistence farmers and the management and members of conservancies, are shocked and deeply concerned about how this will pan out and impact the community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) model in future.

Despite the denial by some of factors like the over-utilisation and unsustainable quotas of game in north-western Namibia, conveniently blaming the current situation solely on the prolonged drought and climate change (and lately, bushmeat poaching), an unpopular, brutal truth prevails.

An article in The Namibian on 19 March 2015, titled ‘End of the Game’, by well-known environmentalist Christiaan Bakkes, has come back to haunt those who “advised” and “assisted” conservancies regarding “harvesting of game”.

In retrospect, Bakkes would be well justified to now say, “I told you so!”. He went further and wrote the book ‘Plunderwoestyn’ (‘Desert of Plunder’), documenting his grave concerns about the future of the CBNRM model. The content speaks for itself.

Bakkes’ article correlates with the trend on the game count graphs found on Nacso’s website from 2013 through 2015, when the article was published, showing an exponential population decline continuing up to 2021.

According to the latest game count figures, there has been a “severe decline” in oryx and kudu numbers in north-western Namibia. The estimated number of gemsbok fell from about 3 000 in 2020 to about 1 300 in 2021, and the number of kudu plummeted from about 2 600 in 2020 to less than 900 in 2021. Hartmann’s zebra numbers also declined, from an estimated 6 400 in 2020 to about 5 600 in 2021.

Springbok numbers, though, are estimated to have grown, from about 59 400 in 2020 to 62 870 in 2021.

The diminishing numbers tell the story and show that the sudden moratorium on further utilisation of game in the area was a too-little-too-late, knee-jerk, last-resort effort to arrest a trend that was already too far gone. The horse had bolted.

Our non-governmental organisation, DeLHRA (Desert Lions Human Relations Aid) has raised red flags and alarm bells on this topic on countless occasions over the last seven years.

The escalation of desert-adapted lion conflict with subsistence farmers was an ideal barometer indicating the consequences of the over-hunting of game under the ‘Shoot and Sell’ dispensation. The starvation of prey-deprived lions near homesteads and kraals circulating on videos and photos as of late just underscores this.

In short, after good rainfall years up to 2011/12, the “abundance” was “harvested” (as per the ‘End of the Game’ article), and instead of allowance being made and contingency allowed for predator offtake (predators thrive during dry periods), disease and natural deaths, decline in the breeding rate in dry spells (especially regarding large-framed game), the need to maintain viable core herds (the strongest genes surviving), for repopulation in following boom cycles (higher rainfall years bound to follow as a natural cycle), the critical stage of the dry spell was entered with a population deficit.

The rest will now become history, told by the figures from the latest game count in north-western Namibia.

Carcasses of game that died because of the drought between the Ugab and Huaruseb rivers are very rare, although loads of dead cattle were observed during this time.

Clearly, and by Nacso’s admission and our own observations, protected areas where no utilisation of game is allowed have proven to be more resilient to the effects of the drought.

The answer therefore lies in copying and pasting the successful Palmwag concession model in areas loosely zoned for wildlife and tourism currently, by affording them protected areas status legally, while properly managing them to optimise revenue for conservancies.

Revenue flowing from the concession holders and custodians of the Palmwag tourism concession – Gondwana Collection Namibia and Wilderness Safaris – is what is keeping the conservancy communities’ pots boiling.

Huge potential lies outside of Palmwag concession from the Ugab right up to the Gomatum River up to the border of the Skeleton Coast National Park. These areas currently have no farming value but are ideal for tourism and wildlife development. However, they are turning into wasteland through abuse and poor management.

The CBNRM model needs some serious tweaking, in the interest of both human and wildlife survival, if it is to succeed.

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