Keeping Our Natural Heritage Clean
A clean up of a space is good for the soul as a cluttered environment leads to a cluttered mind. This is of utmost importance when this cluttered environment is a littered filled piece of our natural heritage, the Fish River Canyon.
Travel News Namibia reports that “The popular canyon has been in a filthy state after the hiking season from May to September, which served as the motivation behind the initiative.” The initiative in question was a clean-up campaign that was recently held, a collaboration between Namibia Breweries Limited in partnership with the Ministry of Environment & Tourism, Namibia Wildlife Resorts, Namdeb, the Gondwana Nature Reserve, Nam-Place (Namibia Protected Landscape Conservation Areas Initiative) and neighbors of the park.
99FM’s MYD Earth spoke to two Namibian hiking enthusiasts, who explained that “For Namibians, it is so important to experience our country on foot and not in a vehicle. There is so much to see in our own country. When you hike you are in tune with nature, you are a participant. You drink the water; you feel the sun and the wind. This is good for the soul. Today too few people have a connection to earth and this is a way you can connect.”
Said to have formed about 500 million years ago, the Fish River Canyon, is one of the most impressive natural beauties in the southern part of Namibia. Being the second most visited tourist attraction in Namibia, shouldn’t it be kept in its natural state?
Travel News Namibia reports that “Clean-up campaigns like this one is important to the country, as Namibia’s natural resources are a major draw-card for Namibian tourism and our economy. Tourists fall in love with the unique Namibian beauty and the pristine state of the country has been commented on countless times.”
Nicola and Francois Theron, the two Namibian hiking enthusiasts explain that what they love about hiking is “the absolute self-sufficiency of hiking, you only take with you what you need; no more and no less.”
They both add that “A place like the Fish River Canyon is relatively clean considering how many people travel through this place but this is probably because of clean up campaigns but still, a real hiker picks up trash because it belongs to everyone to enjoy.”
Photos by Nicola Theron
For the full Travel News Namibia article on the Fish River Canyon Clean Up Campaign, take a look here : Cleaning Up the Fish River Canyon