Existing Legislation and Policies
1.1 Nature Conservation Ordinance, Number 4 of 1975
This ordinance provide a regulatory framework for the protection, conservation and rehabilitation of species and ecosystems, the sustainable use and sustainable management of indigenous biological resources, and the management of protected areas in order to conserve biodiversity and in order to contribute to national development.
1.2 Nature Conservation Amendment Act, Number 5 of 1996
The Act amends sections of the Nature Conservation Ordinance, 1975, so as to provide for an economically based system of sustainable management and utilization of game in communal areas and deletes references to representatives’ authorities, and provide for matters incidental thereto.
1.3 Game Product Trust Fund Act, Number 7 of 1997
The Act provides for the establishment of the Game Products Trust Fund in support of the conservation and management of wildlife resources, and of rural development, in Namibia, and to provide for the management and control of that fund by the Game Products Trust Fund Board, and to provide for incidental matters.
1.4 National Policy on Wildlife and Tourism Concessions on State Land
The granting of concessions in Namibia by the Ministry of Environment and Tourism, and previously other authorities, dates back over several decades. Existing and previous concessions have originated in different types of State land, e.g. tourism and hunting concessions in proclaimed protected areas and on communal land. However, these widely diverse concessions were never awarded and developed under a uniform policy framework. Concessions also create opportunities for business development and the economic empowerment of formerly disadvantaged Namibians through the tourism and hunting and industries.
This Policy therefore aims to explicitly target such empowerment through tourism development and wildlife utilization based on public assets. The Policy also provides a transparent and objective framework for awarding and managing concessions and to obtain support from other line Ministries/Offices/Agencies. It sets out a process and where appropriate, indicates what supporting documents and procedures are required to initiate and implement a concession process from start to finish.
1.5 National Policy on Human Wildlife Conflict Management
The Policy provides a framework and guidelines for management of human-wildlife conflict in a way that recognizes the rights and development needs of local communities, recognizes the need to promote biodiversity conservation, promotes self-reliance and ensures that decision-making is quick, efficient and based on the best available information. In order to achieve this, the Government will delegate decision-making to the lowest appropriate institutional levels, develop appropriate mitigation and monitoring methods and develop the capacity of all stakeholders to manage human-wildlife conflict.