World Wildlife Fund

The conservation achievements in Namibia cannot be maintained and built upon unless serious obstacles are overcome. Namibia’s widespread unemployment, vast economic inequities and wealth of mineral deposits translate into mounting competition between those who would expand on successful conservation efforts and those seeking to extract resources in an unsustainable way. 

Where humans are far and few between – and that applies to many inhospitable parts of Namibia – the country’s environment remains mostly unspoiled. But elsewhere, habitats and wildlife are under growing pressure from several threats.

Climate change
Science has confirmed that the Earth's climate is warming. For Namibia’s, this will likely exacerbate existing drought conditions and affect precipitation in many areas. Changing temperatures may also impact the length of seasons and ultimately change the migration patterns of a host of wildlife.

Wildlife trade
The illegal trade of wildlife and wildlife-related products is a booming business estimated to be worth billions of dollars and involving hundreds of millions of plants and animals every year. It is also one of the primary threats to a large number of species including African species of rhino still found in Namibia. Since 1970, for instance, more than 90 percent of the world's wild rhinos have disappeared for one primary reason: their magnificent horns. Rhino horns are valuable ingredients in traditional Chinese medicine. Considered a powerful heat-reducing medicine, rhino horn is used to treat fever, delirium, high blood pressure and other ailments.

In the Middle East country of Yemen, rhino horns are carved into ceremonial dagger handles known as jambiyas. The government of Yemen banned the import of rhino horn in 1982 but even in the mid-1990s as much as 150 pounds of horn were being smuggled into the country each year. At that time the price of a single pound of rhino horn could sell for as much as US$27,000.

Overexploitation of water resources
Namibia’s limited underground water supplies are being overexploited because of state subsidies on the price of water, and a policy that favours meeting water demand rather than managing and reducing it.

Overgrazing and unsustainable range management
Large livestock numbers, as a result of government development policy and European Union preferred market subsidies, are resulting in overgrazing. This leads to excessive bush encroachment in the savanna regions, a loss of ground cover, loss of species diversity, soil deterioration and erosion caused by wind or water.

Namibia has only a few perennial rivers and these are critical habitats in this arid country. When humans and cattle settle these areas, important riparian vegetation types are degraded and wildlife is compressed into the few remaining unsettled riverine areas. As a result, wildlife (in particular elephants) are denuding the remaining riparian vegetation in protected areas.

Overexploitation of marine fish stocks
During the 80s and 90s, the waters of the Benguela Current region off Namibia’s coast were intensively overexploited. Pilchard, anchovy and hake were fished in large quantities by South African purse seine pelagic vessels and international trawling fleets. These factors, coupled with changes in the marine environmental conditions, have a significant effect on fish population distribution, spawning success and recruitment.