| Tourism fieldworkers get recognition |
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| Written by Lukas Haufiku | |
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Five years ago, the Ministry of Environment and Tourism (MET) launched the Incident Book and Reporting Chart to collect data on a variety of events, activities and statistics. This week, the ministry honoured the fieldworkers, who assisted in collecting the data in a ceremony held at NICE Restaurant.
In her keynote address, Minister of Environment and
Tourism Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah attributed the ministry’s success to the
men and women who assisted in building the sector into a highly robust
programme of international repute.
“The ministry has decided to dedicate this night to people who go an extra mile to do their daily work, who put in extra hours, who preserve against all odds, often in adverse conditions,” said Nandi-Ndaitwah. “Not in boardrooms and international arenas, or debating at conferences, but in the field, protecting our wildlife against poachers, our natural resources against illegal harvesters.” She acknowledged the humble work hands, scouts, rangers and wardens who contributed towards ensuring that the Namibian scenery is pristine and its wildlife conserved even beyond and above the call of duty. Other awards including the Springbok award, the Welwitschia award and the Lifetime Achievement award were conferred during the Wednesday event. Simon Nhongo, UNDP Resident Representative, highlighted that there is a link between sound management of protected areas and increased responsibilities for a motivated and dedicated management and filed staff cadre, including wardens and rangers. He said, “Decentralisation or field staff is confronted by many conflicting priorities from central and regional offices. These challenges extend beyond park boundaries. Namibia is dealing with this issue by adopting an integrated result-based management approach, within the framework of the Third National Development plan (NPD3) which facilitates both field workers and central staff to work in harmony towards the same objectives.” Nhongo cited protected areas as the cornerstone of biodiversity conservation. “They are critical to the achievement of the 2010 biodiversity targets and the Millennium Development Goals, specifically Goal 7: Ensuring Environmental Sustainability,” he said. The awards ceremony saw John Vejorerako scoop the prize as overall winner of the Welwitschia award. Andreas Nieklaaste and Julias Johannes came out as runners-up. Trygve Cooper was runner-up for the Lifetime Achievement award, which was lifted by Chris Eyre. Eyre, a retired control warden, was described as a legendary leading figure in Namibia’s conservation books. Director of Parks and Wildlife Management, Ben Beytell, described Eyre as extremely resourceful, with tremendous knowledge of the veld. He said Eyre had knowledge on anything from butterflies to elephants. The Best Park award, basing on the Incident Book Monitoring System, went to Khaudum National Park. The 3 842-square kilometre park, previously known as Khaudum Game Park, is situated in the eastern Kavango region. It was praised for its hard-working and dedicated staff. Khaudum became the only park to have score 10 out of 10 during the audit processes. The Incident Book Award is based on the results from the Incident Book Audit, which are conducted twice a year. The Book system is a management oriented local level monitoring system implemented by parks staff. |
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