19 November 2008
PEOPLE living at Puros in the Kunene Region stand to earn more income following the launch of campsites by the Ministry of Environment and Tourism and the Delegation of the European Commission (EC) to Namibia.
The launch was also attended by the Governor of Kunene, Dudu Murowa, and Councillor Kasita Gos.
The Community-based Natural Resource Management Project (CESP) which is implemented by NASCO, has been working with Integrated Rural Development and Nature Conservation (IRDNC) in building two new and revamping three established campsites in the Puros Conservancy.
The CESP project is funded by the European Commission and Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO).
Launching the campsites, Joachim Knoth, the EC's Head of Rural Development, said despite the harsh climatic conditions in Puros which are restricting animal husbandry and making crop production almost impossible, the area is blessed with abundant natural resources which the community could use to generate an income.
"Life as we all know is not easy in Puros But you have assets, like the beautiful landscape, the wildlife and culture which you could use to alleviate poverty," he said.
"The Namibian Government has recognised these possibilities and made significant efforts via the Ministry of Environment and Tourism to promote the concept of communal conservancies."
The EC is one of the donors supporting the Namibian Government in its quest to promote the idea of communal conservancies.
Two projects are being funded by the EC.
The first is support through the Rural Poverty Reduction Programme (RPRP) for the construction of a number of new tourism enterprises in northwestern Kunene and the upgrading of others.
Three new campsites were set up in the Sesfontein and Otjitanda Conservancies this year - the Figtree Campsite in Sesfontein village, the Ganamub Mountain Camp 25 km out of Sesfontein and Van Zyl's Pass Campsite near Otjihende village.
Two others have been upgraded in the Orupembe and Marienfluss Conservancies.
They are the Marble Campsite at Onjuva and the Okarohombo Campsite at the far north of the Marienfluss valley.
The second project is the CESP where IRDNC provides ongoing technical support to ensure these conservancies are run successfully.
The CESP and IRDNC's Enterprise Development teams have assisted the conservancies with the recruitment and training of staff for the campsites.
This support has been provided for all the campsites mentioned above, as well as for the Khowarib Campsite in Anabeb Conservancy and the Puros Campsite.
To date, the RPRP and CESP programmes together have helped to create six new full-time jobs and two part-time jobs in the conservancies with the establishing of the new campsites.
In addition, Sesfontein has generated extra income of more than N$20 000 through the campsite's activities since June 2008, and welcomed over 350 guests from all over the world.
Tourism at the community level has traditionally been viewed as offering a lower standard of service and facilities.
However, with the support of IRDNC, and the RPRP and the CESP programmes, there is no reason why conservancy-owned tourism businesses shouldn't be competing on a level with the private sector, as the tourism sector continues to grow in Namibia.
For this reason, it is important to move away from marketing these enterprises as 'community-based tourism', to avoid the associated images in visitors' minds, and to start thinking of them - and marketing them - as first-class, professional and viable businesses that can continue to offer guests the same standard of camping and self-catering accommodation that they would expect anywhere else.
In addition to the completed campsite, Puros will soon boast with bush chalets currently under construction.
The bush chalets are to provide self-catering accommodation from the beginning of 2009.
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