Preserve And Conserve

Namibia launches coastal protection scheme.

Thusrday 2nd July was an important and exciting day in many a nature conservationists calendar as it marked the official opening of Namibia’s first ever Marine Protected area- an area measuring just under 1 million hectares along the countries southern coastline aimed at conserving and protecting the abundant nature resources within.

Overseen by Swakopmundbased project NACOMA (Namibia Coast Conservation and Management) and partially funded by the World Wildlife Fund, the area comes in response to the depletion of fish stocks and wide scale ecosystem damage done over the past few years. A recent study stated that if we wish to continue to include fish as part of our diet then at least 30% of all world oceans need to be protected in order to conserve the remaining fish stocks. The new Marine Protected Area (MPA) hopes to contribute to this; stretching from Meob Bay down to Chamais Bay the MPA reaches 30k out to sea and covers all 18 of Namibia’s islands and islets.

The combination of the cold sea temperature and the movement of the Benguela current makes the Namibian coastline very rich in nutrients and able to support a wide variety of life. The area hopes to protect a number of endangered species, for example the Bank Cormorant, the Southern Right Whale, the Damara Tern and the Cape Gannet which breeds on only six islands in the world, three of which are in Namibia. Furthermore limitations on recreational fishing and trawling near the coastline will conserve important breeding and nursing grounds for the infamous Rock Lobster and migration routes and calving bays for Whales.

What does this mean for Lüderitz?

The new MPA will cover the entire Lüderitz coastline and the harbour has been declared an important Lobster Sanctuary which may limit recreational fishing to a small area of the coastline. In addition the buffer zone that the MPA will create covers a small area of Lüderitz’s port waters and commercial fishing in waters shallower than 200m will be strictly prohibited. Kelp cutting and mining on the islands is forbidden, as is anchoring on all islands within the buffer zone.

However, MPA authorities have stated that the conservation area is small enough so as to have a minimal impact on commercial fishing and that the buffer zone will not affect long liners or mid and deep water trawlers. In the future there are hopes that the entire Namibian coastline will be a Marine Protected Area but for now all eyes are on the Lüderitz coast to see the impacts that the conservation area will have.