Celebrating a Namibian Conservation Gem
“In a treasure chest of rare Namibian game species a green utopia rises above the surrounding plains.”
If you’re not familiar with the Waterberg National Park in central Namibia on the Waterberg Plateau, you have been missing out on one of Namibia’s rare gems. According to Kaiporo Kandji, a Warden at the Waterberg Plateau Park “The amazing thing about Waterberg is that it is unique in terms of the variation in the vegetation and geological makeup. Add to this the fact that everything is basically constituted at the top of the plateau and you have one of the most pristine conservation areas in the world.”
Travel News Namibia writes that “In a treasure chest of rare Namibian game species a green utopia rises above the surrounding plains,” a perfectly apt description for a place so unique and majestic that a visit to the planes guarantees to capture your heart. What is delighting more and more Namibians is that not only will you find your heart captured by the beauty at Waterberg, but so too will you find your head in awe of the unique conservation efforts underway at Waterberg National Park.
Travel News Namibia writes that “Since 1972 it has been a sort of credo of the Waterberg administration to rehabilitate species that had long since died out (or been poached to extinction) in the region. Initially proclaimed as a conservation area to protect eland populations that were unfavourably looked upon by cattle farmers in the region, the reintroduction of species was broadened to include sable, roan, tsessebe and black and white rhino, bringing them back from the brink of extinction. The conservation programs are so successful that the Ministry of Environment and Tourism (MET) has been able to relocate animals from the park to other parts of the country to improve their distribution, genetic variation and also reintroduce them to other territories where the species had once thrived before human intervention, such as black rhinos in the Kunene region.”
“Animals on the plateau are kept in a safe pocket of conservation as they are protected not only by MET rangers, but also by the natural impenetrable boundaries formed by the high cliffs on all sides but the north. Dams have been built over the years and game-proof fencing has been erected. Surveillance cameras powered by solar energy have been placed at waterholes and custom hides were built so that wildlife can be monitored. An Alcatraz in Namibia! Not to keep anything in, but rather to keep the threats of the human world out.”
Should you find yourself touring beautiful Namibia this festive season, be sure to make Waterberg National Park a stop, where head and heart will agree that this is a beauty with brains for conservation.
To read Travel News Namibia’s article on Waterberg National Park, take a look here : 43 Shades of Green