The contribution of wildlife to sustainable natural resource utilization in Namibia : a review
Date
2010-11-15
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MDPI - Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
Abstract
Namibia is the driest country in sub-Saharan Africa, but well known for its
richness in species and sustainable natural resource utilization. The Namibian farming
sector consists mainly of extensive farming systems. Cattle production contributes 54% of
the livestock sector’s production output, followed by sheep and goats (25%), hides and
skins (9%), and other forms of agricultural production (12%). Namibia’s freehold farmers
have obtained ownership rights over land and livestock since the early 1900s; commercial
rights over wildlife and plants were given to freehold farmers in 1967 and to communal
farmers in 1996. Natural resource-based production systems then overtook agricultural
production systems and exceeded it by a factor of at least two. The shift from practicing
conservation to sustainable utilization of natural resources contributed to the rapid growth
of wildlife utilization. The wildlife industry in Namibia is currently the only animal
production system that is expanding. There are in total at least two million head of
different wildlife species. The broader impact of the utilization of wildlife on the economy
is estimated to be around N$ 1.3 billion. Tourism, live sales and trophy hunting, cannot
sustain further growth. Wildlife farming could offer better opportunities for ensuring
long-term sustainability. As the game meat trade in Namibia is not formalized, harvesting
wildlife to satisfy the demand for game meat in export markets is still in its infancy. Sustainable harvesting of wildlife for meat production, however, has the potential to
increase earnings to the beneficiaries in the wildlife sector.
Description
CITATION: Van Schalkwyk, D. L., McMillin, K. W., Witthuhn, R. C. & Hoffman, L. C. 2010. The Contribution of Wildlife to Sustainable Natural Resource Utilization in Namibia: A Review. Sustainability, 2(11):3479-3499, doi:10.3390/su2113479.
The original publication is available at http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/2/11/3479
The original publication is available at http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/2/11/3479
Keywords
Citation
Van Schalkwyk, D. L., McMillin, K. W., Witthuhn, R. C. & Hoffman, L. C. 2010. The Contribution of Wildlife to Sustainable Natural Resource Utilization in Namibia: A Review. Sustainability, 2(11):3479-3499, doi:10.3390/su2113479.