National | PANORAMA

Working in partnership with key champions in the public sector

To achieve an effective protection of surf breaks, SPDA has built a very strong relationship with DICAPI and, in particular, with the National Surfing Federation (FENTA) with whom all actions are coordinated and campaigns discussed. Having a good relationship with with DICAPI as the competent authority in registering the surf breaks is not a guarantee for success, but does facilitate actions taken as DICAPI realizes SPDA is a serious organization and is supported by a group of committed actors. The relationship with FENTA is also very positive because FENTA is the key national institution which promotes surf and related sports.

1. Leadership and seriousness - on behalf of institutions leading protection initiative.

2. Good relationships with public institutions which are key in promoting and managing the surf breaks protection regime/system.

Legal and administrative procedures are not mathematical: they imply levels of interpretation, discussion, and interaction with authorities and officials of DICAPI, FENTA and even the protected areas authority to discuss how the system for the protection of surf breaks might interact with the protected areas regime.

Implementation

National

Participatory awareness raising and analysis

Legitimizing the formal recognition and protection of a surf break is key to ensuring sustainability and maintainance of the site over the long term. Meetings to explain the advantages of protecting the surf break and its multiplicatory effect, enables direct actors at the local level in particular to commit to the idea and be the direct agents of change and local protection. Likewise, involving local authorities facilitates broad consensus towards a common goal shared by all participants. This is achieved through local workshops and incidence activities.

1. Good alliances and reliable partnerships with key actors.

2. Good communication skills.

3. Detailed understanding of advantages and potential challenges to be met by actors.

1. It is not always easy to find a common goal among all actors or stakeholders with an interest in the surf breaks and their surrounding areas of influence.

2. Though the surf break is per se the central object of protection, it is important to highlight and ensure people understand that the overall effort goes beyond the surf break. We are trying to protect interests related to small scale fisheries; tourism; marine environments; and sustainable development opportunities.

3. Organizing local meetings with key actors is not always easy given their daily working agendas. To overcome this, it is key to adapt to these dynamic agendas and respond accodingly.

Inception phase

Local

National

Status Quo Assessment and Management Plan

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Implementation

National

Brochure - Harvesting Namibian Encroacher Bush

Identification of Value Addition Opportunities

Bush controlled land in Namibia

Otjiwa Lodge, Namibia

The goal of bush control is savanna ecosystem rehabilitation, fostering biodiversity and balanced habitats with woody species and grasses. Bush value chains have emerged as a solution, turning a rehabilitation byproduct into an economic opportunity, prioritizing landscape diversity and large tree preservation to enhance natural controls.

Opportunities for value addition range from low-tech, labor-intensive to high-tech, capital-intensive products. The choice depends on factors like available resources, land rights, location, capital, expertise, market access, and local conditions.

The heart of value addition is the selection of bush control or harvesting methods. This pivotal decision marks the start of potential value chains. Multiple methods exist, varying in efficiency, effectiveness, and environmental sustainability, including large-scale mechanical control, heavily mechanized control, manual and semi-mechanized control, and chemical control.

Farmers and companies enter the growing bush biomass sector. Current value chains involve global charcoal, local firewood, and small-scale production. The sector optimizes, diversifies, and scales. Key catalysts:

Financial Resources: Opportunities align with available finances.
Skilled Labor: Skilled workers ensure sustainability and efficiency.
Technical Equipment: Specialized gear handles hard wood and minerals

Developing bush-based industries in Namibia is vital for financing sustainable bush thinning efforts. Abundant biomass offers economic opportunities:

Customization for Local Context: International tech must align with local conditions.
Co-financing in Low-Income Areas: Subsidies promote participation.
SME Outsourcing for Cost Efficiency: SMEs cut costs for landowners.
Cooperation & Knowledge Exchange: Sector bodies like Namibian Biomass Industry Group and Charcoal Association enhance innovation.

Namibia's robust bush-based industry restores ecosystems and fosters sustainable financing. Biomass abundance fuels diverse, optimized value chains. With catalysts and lessons, Namibia creates a valuable, sustainable "restoration economy" pooling private sector resources per ecological restoration principles and economic opportunities.

Implementation

National

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Enabling Environment & Sector Coordination

Products from encroacher bush

GIZ Support to De-bushing Project

Namibia prioritizes addressing bush encroachment, driven by the emergence of bush value chains. Localized farm-level measures yielded mixed results, necessitating a national framework: the National Strategy on the Sustainable Management of Bush Resources (2022-2027). This strategy aims to optimize bush resource utilization, safeguard sustainability, and benefit all Namibians while enhancing environmental outcomes.

Governance involves various sectors. Environmental and forestry sectors focus on land rehabilitation, sustainability, and management. Industrialization and trade support value chains. Agriculture seeks sustainable rangeland management to prevent encroachment.

Due to the cross-sectoral nature, a National Coordinating Body is crucial for collaboration, knowledge exchange, adaptive management, and informed decision-making.

Key factors enabling guidance on bush control, a shared vision, and sustainable bush value chains include:

Stakeholders steering committee: A diverse committee provided policy direction and technical guidance, fostering cross-sectoral coordination and clear mandates.
Sector associations: Organizations like the Charcoal Association of Namibia (CAoN) and Namibia Biomass Industry Group (N-BiG) support policy advocacy, research, investments, and market development.
Policy harmonization locally and globally:

Active work in the biomass sector by multiple stakeholder kick-started the discourse on the potential of biomass and has influenced the investigation into the formulation of new policies. The following lessons are learnt:

Time: The process of facilitating discussion aimed at formulating policies and enabling framework shifts takes time. Buy-in for the necessary policy changes challenging and will be a much longer process, to secure higher-level commitment. Consistency is required in collecting information for policy makers, open stakeholder engagements and collaboration with the policymakers, academia and subject experts.
Lack of public budget: minimal to lack of government budget dedicated to addressing bush encroachment led to limited commitment to key strategic decisions.

Implementation

National

National Strategy on the Sustainable Management of Bush Resources 2022-2027

Oceania

Empowering island communities: the use of cost-benefit analysis to support informed climate change adaptation decisions

Dr. Luke

Brander

Identifying EbA solutions through participatory assessments

Steps towards effectively communicating EbA solutions and trade-offs to stakeholders

East and South Africa

Resilient management of water and soil resources in Burundi

Vincent

Hornsperger

Integrated vulnerability analysis at national and local level

Holistic and participatory approach to CC adaptation

Adaptation, gender and the empowerment of women: an integrated approach

Innovative adaptation measures to climate change

Scientific cooperation

Meeting of scientists and site managers

Anne Littaye

Joint migratory bird monitoring programmes and support of common scientific and management projects to promote conservation and management of the natural resources of the Wadden Sea and Banc d’Arguin. The ambition is for the two sites to take lead in simultaneous counts along the entire East Atlantic Flyway in order to get a full picture on the status of migratory bird populations using the flyway. Research on migratory birds in the Wadden Sea and Banc d'Arguin is closely interconnected and significant for all other wintering, breeding and staging sites along the flyway. Thus, only scientific cooperation can reach a holistic perception of the flyway and a common basis for successful management.

Shared research questions and similarities of nature sites.

Cultural differences lead to different understanding of monitoring and scientific research, e.g. different approaches to scientific research and monitoring had to be viewed and discussed to find a common path.

Local

National

Multi-national

Exchange of know-how

Bird monitoring at Banc d'Arguin

Anne Littaye

Regular exchange visits and exchange of know-how between experts and site managers. These meetings are means of capacity building with harmonised values and methods taught and practiced both in Banc d’Arguin and the Wadden Sea. Common monitoring and management methods are harmonized and a shared level of knowledge and understanding is created. Participants are scientists, site managers and other experts of the respective protected areas.

The exchange visits of experts and managers are funded by the Trilateral Wadden Sea Cooperation and partners in the countries, e.g. the national parks. From the beginning, all partners on regional and national level of the MOU understood the advantages to enhance the conservation of their WH properties and especially migratory bird along the East Atlantic Flyway.

Cultural differences lead to different understanding of nature conservation and management, e.g. the diverse views on nature conservation has to be acknowledged on both sites in order to define common goals and methods of managing the sites.

Local

National

Multi-national