Environmental Management
The Government of the Republic of Namibia though the MET has instituted a process to reform policies and laws within the environment sphere. Nationally, these bills, environmental policies and conventions put into place include:
Environmental Management Act No. 7 of 2007
National Policy on Human-Wildlife Conflict Management
The Nature Conservation Ordinance (1975) as amended through the Nature Conservation Amendment Act of 1996
The Game Products Trust Fund Act
The Environmental Investment Fund of Namibia Act (2001)
Bills, which are still in preparation include:
The Parks and Wildlife Management Bill
The Access to Genetic Resources and Associated Traditional Knowledge Bill
The Pollution Control and Waste Management Bill
International Conventions to which Namibia is a signatory include:
UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) - www.unccd.int
UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) - www.unfccc.int
Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) - www.cbd.int
Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (PDF)
The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands - www.ramsar.org
Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer (PDF)
Basel Convention for the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Waste and their Disposal (PDF)
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) - www.cites.org
The sensible environmental protection procedures that Namibia has developed are rated among the best in the world. These include setting environmental standards for any developments by requesting:
Strategic Environmental Assessments (SEA)
Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA)
The publication, Namibia’s Environmental Assessment Framework:- the evolution of policy and practice, provides detailed information on the background and processes of environmental impact assessments in Namibia.
Considering the important role Communal Land Boards play in land management and land allocation, the MET has, together with the Ministry of Lands and Resettlement, developed a training course on “Sustainable Development and Environmentally-sound Decision-Making” for Communal Land Boards for all 12 Boards.
The MET, with other line ministries, has also established several programmes to monitor and help ensure sustainable land production systems, including:
Strengthening Our Protected Areas Network (SPAN) – www.span.org.na
Namibian Coast Conservation and Management Project (NACOMA) – www.nacoma.org.na
Community-Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) - www.nacso.org.na
The Directorate of Environmental Affairs (DEA) within the Ministry of Environment and Tourism serves as the focal point to many of the environmental conventions that Namibia is party to, such as the UN Conventions on Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification and the Basel Convention on Hazardous Wastes. Information about initiatives within Namibia that are central to implimenting these conventions and others can also be found under the DEA pages on this website. These include:
Country Pilot Partnership for Sustainable Land Management (CPP)
Forums for Integrated Resource Management (FIRMS)
Environmental Investment Fund (EIF)
National Biodiversity Programme
National Programme to Combat Desertification
National Climate Change Programme