Buchter News » Enviromental

Brown Hyena Research

admin — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 17:25:24 +0000

Camera traps have been set up around Bogenfels and Van Reenen Bay to help monitor the brown hyena population. The camera trap set up at the northern end of the seal colony at Van Reenen Bay has worked very well obtaining good identification shots. No nose or hair photographs have yet been taken, but The Brown Hyena Research Project are busy identifying the animals and will hopefully they will be able to do the first abundance estimate in January 2011.
FUNDRAISING AND DONATIONS
The Oklahoma City Zoo partially funded Dr. Dawn Zimmerman’s participation during this year’s darting season. She looked at diseases and parasites. We hope that her project is going to be a long-term collaboration, too.
The Kansas City Zoo sponsored Dr. Kirk Suedmeyer’s travelling expenses to Namibia. We are very grateful that he could help during this year’s darting season again and are looking forward to see him again next year.
Mrs. Val Bickley from Australia donated AU$ 100 to the project. We collected N$ 400 in the slot tin at Klein Aus Vista. •
Dr. Ingrid Wiesel

Coastal Schools Lead the Way With International Beach Clean Up Day

admin — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 18:27:49 +0000

This years International Beach Clean Up Day took place on the 25th September.
14 coastal schools showed their respect for their beautiful shoreline, and killing two birds with one stones, students helped the environment whilst learning the importance of keeping our shores clean. ‘Lets not tolerate beach littering’ was this years slogan and the learners have done Namibia proud by helping to raise awareness about the pollution of our environment worldwide.
Primary and Secondary schools from Oranjemund, Lüderitz, Walvis Bay, Swakopmund and Henties Bay were all present during this eco-friendly day and were assisted by members of the community.
This event has had yet another positive outcome because Erongo Marine Enterprises (Pty) Ltd from Walvis Bay has donated N$55,000.00 towards the reduction of marine litter.
cleaning our beaches doesn’t just benefit our environment, it also gives our coastal towns a better reputation and can help to increase tourism. Namibia’s scenic beaches shouldn’t be ruined by litter and as a society we can help to keep it looking as aesthetically pleasing as possible to both locals and travellers.
Hopefully, this occasion will bring even more environmental projects that will in turn, have many positive outcomes and results. Well done to everyone who participated, you’ve done your beacches proud!

Welcome To Luderitz

admin — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 18:19:55 +0000

Luderitz is continuously growing and changing aesthetically and this month is no different. The Ministry of Home Affairs is having accommodation built for border post workers, now that Luderitz has become a border post. These houses are going to be different from the usual Government regulation buildings as they are designed, by Bob Mould, in the colonial style of Luderitz. The houses are situated at the entrance of the town, which is why they are being designed in an attractive manner. Many members of the community believe that visitors do not receive a good first impression when entering the town because the first building they see is the prison, then the main road in has factories, unkempt houses and dirt. In the same vein, the airport is also being updated to make passenger arrivals more enjoyable. Due to a limited budget a new building couldn’t be built but the existing terminal is being extended and improved, this is being funded by Namibia Airports Company.

Renewable Energy Conferences

admin — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 16:56:25 +0000

On the 29th and 30th of January the Wind Power Demonstration Project held conferences in order to raise awareness about renewable energy possibilities in Luderitz. The Conference on the 29th was held at 9.00am in the German Hostel and local schools participated in the event. Learners from Helene Van Rhijn and the Luderitz Christian School took part in a poster competition and many students and teachers from Luderitz Secondary School attended, as well as the Regional Councillor, David Shoombe. The opening remarks were made by Mr. Shoombe who said he wants to make use of the wind for renewable energy as massive amounts of finite sources are being consumed by the people of Namibia. He encouraged the learners present to become scientists and leaders and to use wave and wind energy in the future. It was discovered in 1992 that if we used wind power to its maximum potential then it could provide enough electricity to cover the entire Karas Region and part of the Northern Cape. There is demand for 550MW of electricity per year; Ruacana only produces 240MW and it’s a hydro-plant so the electricity is seasonal; Van Eck is a coal plant and produces 120MW but is incredibly expensive to run and costs the country N$1000000.00 per day when it’s on; Paratus uses diesel and only creates 24MW. In total, Namibia generates 384MW of electricity, which is insufficient. Currently, half of our power is imported from South Africa, which seems ridiculous as we could be the ones selling if we took advantage of our natural, renewable resources.
The Energy Conference that took place on Saturday began at 9.00am and demonstrated how one might use renewable energy to power household appliances. Unfortunately it was overcast and Luderitz, for once, did not feel the need to blow. As a result, the demonstration was not quite as spectacular as we had hoped but the solar battery on the “Energy Demonstration Trailer” provided enough electricity to prove a point. The aim of the demonstration was to raise awareness and spread information about renewable energy and energy efficient technologies, measures and practices in urban, rural and peri-urban Namibian Settlements. The actual project began in 2006 through local initiative and was funded by the United Nations Development Program through GEF. They have placed one turbine beside Luderitz Secondary School, which has recently been removed, and another beside the Regional Council Office where it powers the Eco-Sewing Project. The Eco-Sewing Project is where local women can earn a salary making and mending clothes and the wind turbine provides the electricity needed to power their sewing machines. In the future they hope to put up more turbines but need help from sponsors to achieve this as their funds have just run out and are grateful for any support for the project.
From the Energy Conference the day before, several youths from Luderitz Secondary School decided to create a Luderitz Wind Club to continue to raise awareness within the town about wind energy and the project donated N$500 to the cause. They hope to raise enough money to erect more wind turbines around Luderitz. At present the club only has a few members but they hope to expand in the future.

Local Coastodians Do Us Proud

admin — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 13:48:15 +0000

We are proud to announce that two of our local schools won the two top prizes for the International Coastal Clean up Day and Art Competition. Luderitz Secondary school was one of them, along with Diaz Primary. The judging was completed in Windhoek by independent artists/teachers, and the grand prize of a trip to the Namib Desert Environmental Education Centre was awarded to two of our local schools. The judges had a certain criteria to follow in order to award prizes. Firstly, the art work had to be creative and considerate of recycling principles, the effort involved on the day of the clean up, taking into consideration the selected site was also a contributing factor, and finally the effort and enthusiasm shown by the participants. Forty learners from each school and four adults can attend the trip, which is organised by the Namibian Coast Conservation and Management Project NACOMA. Congratulations to all of those who took part.•

Preserve And Conserve

admin — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 18:02:26 +0000

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.

Luderitz Wind Power Gets A Burst of Fresh Air

admin — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 18:42:29 +0000

Lüderitz Wind Power (LWP) has just received news that its two 1k/W wind turbines will be replaced. The turbines, one of which is located at Lüderitz Secondary School and the other at the Regional Council buildings, both blew down in mid-October of last year during a period of particularly high wind speeds. Closer inspection of the damaged turbines revealed that the weak material that the turbine blades were made of has been snapped in two.

Dismayed, The LWP team, lead by Project Coordinator Ndako Mukapuli, applied to Kestrel Wind Turbines, their supplier, for two replacement turbines but their request was denied following a dispute between Kestral Wind Turbines and Asca Investments, the company that initially installed the turbines. Luckily after several months, Kestrel agreed to provide LWP with two new, improved turbines which are made from a stronger material. The project is currently awaiting the arrival of the two new turbines to Lüderitz when they will promptly be reinstalled.

In October last year The Buchter News published an article detailing the amount of money that LWP had received from the UN’s Development Project and its predicted spending costs. The Buchter News has now learned that LWP did not have direct access to the grant and instead applied for money by providing invoices for any equipment needed. The money, a vast N$380 000, was spent, not only on the two wind turbines, which cost N$166 000 together, but also on planning costs, office equipment, workshops, training and so on. The Buchter News would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused to members of LWP from the printing of the above article in the October 2008 edition of the paper.

Lüderitz Wind Power currently has N$40 000 left from the project grant and plans to spend the money on an informative fun day based at the Waterfront, later this year.

Diaz School Cleans Up Nicely

admin — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 16:50:32 +0000

As well organised as a military organisation, groups of magenta-clad learners busily shoved rubbish into bin bags, calling directions to each other over the piles of collected litter and steadily swept the area for traces of trash. The reason? Diaz Primary School’s annual clean-up day!

Sponsored by the Swakopmund- based Ministerial organisation NACOMA (Namibian Coast Conservation and Management Project), the clean up day was just one part of the year long Coastodian program that selected Namibian schools have been taking part in. Along with Diaz Primary School, Lüderitz Secondary School, Kamwandi Primary School (Henties Bay), Tamariskia Primary School & Westside High (Swakopmund), Narraville Primary School, Fla- 5 mingo Primary School and Duneside High School (Walvis Bay) have also been learning about the different flora and fauna native to Namibia’s coastline and how to protect and maintain this unique environment (similarly to the SKEP project that ran earlier this year- issue # 221).

On the 5th June, incidentally also World Environment Day, Diaz Schools Grade 6 learners gathered along the road to Agate beach armed with bin bags and enthusiasm to collect paper, plastic, glass and metal which was later picked up by the Town Council.

Congratulations to all learners for collecting almost twice the amount of litter that they picked up in the previous year.

Lüderitz Wind Farm Not Yet Under Construction

admin — Tue, 12 May 2009 11:04:45 +0000

Over the past twenty years Global Warming has become a worldwide buzz word; millions of dollars have been poured into research, prevention and, perhaps most importantly, renewable energy sources. However, it is only recently that global warming has fallen into the spotlight in Southern Africa which is why The Buchter News is proud to announce that Luderitz has been chosen as the site for one of Namibia’s first ever wind turbine farms.

Prior to the new development of wind farms Namibia’s power supply came largely from South Africa; approximately 60% of all energy is imported from RSA whilst the remaining 40% comes from a hydro-electric powerstation near Ruacana and a coal fired power station. However, despite Namibia’s dependance on South Africa, there has previously never been adaquate funding to explore other means of energy production.

All this changed in 1993 when the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME) began assessing Luderit’z potential wind energy production as part of its ‘Promotion for the Use of Renewable Energy Sources in Namibia’program. This evaluation led to the publication of a report in May 1997 which stated that Luderitz has ‘great potential’in the production of wind energy.

Several years later a Dutch based organisation Áeolus Power Generation partnered up with the Namibian group United Africa Group and began planning a wind turbine project. The Dutch-Namibian group gained permission to begin building in early 2007 and the investment will result in the erection of 102 turbines along the Namibian coastline, which will eventually generate around 25% of all Namibia’s electricity supply. In late 2008 40 turbines intended for Luderitz were shipped to Namibia and are now waiting for construction to begin. The project is costing a vast N$1.1 billion and is partially being funded by a grant from the Dutch Government. All power generated will be sold to Nampower.

It has not yet been confirmed when construction of the wind farm will commence but it is hoped that the development will begin later this year. An industrial windturbine.

THE LAST WORD

admin — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 15:43:16 +0000

By Justin Braby
The Damara Tern Sterna balaenarum is arguably the smallest and most unique of the terns. It migrates to the coastlines of Namibia, Angola and South Africa during southern hemisphere summer to breed. It spends the winter in West African countries like Ghana and Nigeria. As only 2% of the world population of Damara Terns breed outside of Namibia, it is considered to be an endemic to our country. Damara Terns breed in loose, isolated colonies on the desert mainland. They nest on saltpans or gravel plains between dunes. The world population of Damara Terns makes up only 7000 individuals. This small population has captured the attention of conservation authorities. It is currently Near Threatened on the Red Data List of Species created by the IUCN. As the vast majority of Damara Terns breed in Namibia, the country has become almost solely responsible for the survival of the species. It is Specially Protected under the draft Parks and Wildlife Management Bill of 2002. It has also become a flagship species along the Namibian coast due to its unique biology and behaviour. A flagship species is usually a popular, charismatic species that serves as a symbol and rallying point to stimulate conservation awareness and action. The densest breeding population of Damara Terns is found along the central coast of Namibia, in the gravel plains amongst the dunes between Walvis Bay and Swakopmund. Due to increased human disturbance here, the breeding success has become dangerously low. Very little was previously known about breeding populations along the southern coast of Namibia, known as the Sperrgebiet. The last two breeding seasons I have spent monitoring the breeding colonies in the Sperrgebiet as part of my Doctorate in Zoology. This project was initiated to assess the possible impact mining disturbance may have on the breeding productivity and population dynamics of the Damara Tern. The project was broadened because of the collection of new and interesting data on Damara Tern breeding and behaviour. In addition, colonies that were previously estimated as harboring only small numbers of breeding terns in fact harbored much greater numbers. The breeding colony at Hottentot’s Bay was estimated at 20 nests; this season my assistant and I found a minimum of 186 nests on the pan. Elizabeth Bay, the colony that has required the most focus due to mining, has yielded interesting results too. The number of nests has decreased here from 13 nests last season to only 4 nests this season. Mining impacts here may be due to sediment release into the bay rendering it difficult for adults to find and catch fish and in turn being able to feed their chicks. The data collection phase of this project has come to an end and now this data needs to be analyzed to assess the possibility of impacts. The essence of this project reflects the notion that the Damara Tern will become a flagship species of the Sperrgebiet National Park, much like the Brown Hyena and the African Penguin.