Namibia urged to ensure preservation of wetlands

NAMIBIA should preserve its wetlands so that future generations can benefit from them, a senior official from the World Conservation Union (WCU) said on Wednesday.

This plea was made by Lenka Thamae, the Manager for the WCU SADC Wetlands Projects, based in Harare, when he officially launched Wetlands and Endemics of Namibia posters in the capital. He said the documents would help environmentalists as well as conservationists in their work.Intended for use by teachers in Namibian schools, the Wetlands of Namibia booklets define wetlands as areas where plants and animals are adapted to and the soils influenced by the periodic or continual presence of water.Human population growth and poverty have put pressure on Namibia’s wetlands, resulting in overgrazing, desertification, bush encroachment and deforestation.The booklet on ‘Wetlands of Namibia’ was compiled for the Wetlands Working Group of Namibia by Danica Shaw of Eco-logic Environmental Management and Shirley Bethune and Kevin Roberts of the Wetlands Working Group, using information gathered for the Wetlands of Namibian poster commissioned by the Namibia Nature Foundation.The poster was sponsored by Total, Namdeb, Commercial Bank of Namibia and Go Green and the Namibia Nature Foundation.He said the documents would help environmentalists as well as conservationists in their work. Intended for use by teachers in Namibian schools, the Wetlands of Namibia booklets define wetlands as areas where plants and animals are adapted to and the soils influenced by the periodic or continual presence of water.Human population growth and poverty have put pressure on Namibia’s wetlands, resulting in overgrazing, desertification, bush encroachment and deforestation.The booklet on ‘Wetlands of Namibia’ was compiled for the Wetlands Working Group of Namibia by Danica Shaw of Eco-logic Environmental Management and Shirley Bethune and Kevin Roberts of the Wetlands Working Group, using information gathered for the Wetlands of Namibian poster commissioned by the Namibia Nature Foundation.The poster was sponsored by Total, Namdeb, Commercial Bank of Namibia and Go Green and the Namibia Nature Foundation.