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Sustaining environment, natural resources important for rural communities

Ecosystem services are of particular importance to the most deprived sections of society, especially communities living in rural areas, says minister of environment Pohamba Shifeta.

Shifeta said this in an address at the National Conference on the Current State of Sustainable Natural Resource Management in Windhoek today.

Ecosystem services refer to the vast variety of benefits gained by people from their environment and the properly functioning ecosystems within that environment.

“Ecosystem services underpin Namibia’s economy and human well-being. About 70% of Namibia’s population directly rely on it for their livelihood,” he said.

“They have little or no land, little or no fuel, little or no income, and struggle daily with the burden of poverty. There is a natural link between forests and the rural population.”

Citing Article 95 of the Constitution — on the promotion of the welfare of people — Shifeta highlighted the country’s continuous efforts to maintain ecosystems, essential ecological processes and biological diversity. This article also refers to the use of living natural resources on a sustainable basis for the benefit of all Namibians.

“This article is more important than ever now, especially during this time as we continue to experience increasing levels of deforestation and land degradation,” Shifeta said.

“For [Namibia] to succeed in the fight against deforestation, we must ensure that devolution of rights is accompanied by livelihood improvement opportunities through ecosystem services and the sustainable use of forest resources.”

Shifeta said the ministry of environment has over the past 29 years put various measures in place to ensure the effective implementation of this part of the Constitution, and has also developed approaches to hand down rights and responsibilities over the conservation and sustainable use of natural resources to communities.

The minister said these approaches empower communities and have created incentives for sustainable development and co-existence.

Furthermore, Shifeta said the ministry is still gripped with tackling the commercial harvesting of hardwood trees for export overseas; an activity he describes as only benefiting few individuals at the expense of the greater local population, economy and environment.

“Namibia is not like other tropical rain forest countries where you can undertake large-scale commercial timber harvesting. The levels of harvesting we have seen in recent years have been inherently unsustainable and we, therefore, need to ensure that these activities are carefully controlled and regulated,” he said.

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