Namibia - Africa's Conservation Star
Now's your chance for you and a travel partner to experience a 12-night self-drive safari in Namibia - including a backstage pass to ITV1's "Cheetah Kingdom". To enter, visit www.travelnamibia.co.uk!
Online, December 1, 2010 (Newswire.com) - Namibia Tourism Board and partners are giving a lucky winner two return overnight Economy Air Namibia flights to Windhoek, a ten night itinerary through some of the best areas of Namibia including a two night stay at Okonjima Lodge home of AfriCAT. Here they will be given a special visit to meet the stars of the TV series. To enter, visit www.travelnamibia.co.uk!
Imagine sitting with a cold Windhoek lager looking over sweeping grassland where zebra, springbok and cheetahs roam? This fabulous experience is courtesy of the Namibia Tourism Board, Air Namibia and Naturally Namibia
Namibia's Communal Conservancy Tourism Sector (NACSO) is achieving conservation and community benefits at a scale never before seen in Africa. Namibia was the first African country to incorporate protection of the environment into its constitution, and the government has reinforced this by giving its communities the opportunity and rights to manage their wildlife through communal conservancies.
Today there are 59 registered Communal Conservancies covering 16.8% of the land area of Namibia, or 130,000 km2 of prime wildlife habitat. Some 29 joint-venture lodges and campsites operate in partnership with conservancies, a vibrant and growing part of the destination's tourism profile.
The result may well be 'the greatest African wildlife recovery story ever told'
• In 1995 only 20 lions roamed freely in Northwest Namibia - today that number is more than 130!
• In 1982 the Black Rhino was almost extinct - today Namibia has the largest concentration of free roaming Black Rhino in the World!
• Other wildlife such as giraffe, kudu, springbok etc have gone from being less than 1000 to today being over tens of thousands!
Conservation will fail, however, if it does not improve the life of the community. Conservancy projects in Namibia have so far improved the life of 1 in 8 Namibians. Other countries around the world are now looking to Namibia to learn lessons to adapt for them. The benefits to tourists and travellers to the country are that they find themselves more appreciative of what they are experiencing as they feel that they truly getting a meaningful story to return home with.