Huntinamibia - NAPHA Info - Message from the NAPHA President
This year we celebrate the tenth anniversary of Huntinamibia. The magazine has proudly stood the test of time over the past decade and promises to serve the trophy-hunting sector for many more decades on both national and international platforms. On behalf of the Namibian trophy-hunting sector I extend our sincere thanks to those who have made it happen – the Venture Publications team, and also the NAPHA members who share their stories with our readers throughout the world. We all know how difficult it is to write, let alone write in such a way that the international readership will find it entertaining. But, with your dedication and effort we have a noteworthy product that has credibility and repute, and is an honest reflection of what hunting in Namibia is about.
Looking back over the past ten years, NAPHA is proud to have played an important role in the development of the trophy-hunting sector as a key component of tourism in Namibia and as a main contributor to the GDP, earning much treasured foreign currency. Trophy hunting earns 14% of the total tourism contribution to the GDP.
In the first edition of Huntinamibia, the MET Permanent Secretary, Tangeni Erkana, challenged NAPHA to become involved in solving problems relating to the trophy-hunting sector. I am proud to say that NAPHA has been a trusted partner of the Ministry of Environment and Tourism in many respects. One of the challenges was to address the ‘historical failure to spread the benefit widely amongst the people of Namibia’. It is a well-known fact that communal conservancies in Namibia earned more than six million Namibia dollars through trophy hunting during the past year, compared to only half a million ten years ago.
Government, Erkana said back then, was worried about unethical hunting practices. NAPHA, as a self-regulatory body, addresses such issues with good results through its Ethics Committee.
Government was concerned that too few previously disadvantaged Namibians had access to the trophy-hunting sector. NAPHA initiated the foundation of the first hunting school in Namibia and collaborated with the MET to develop a system of evaluating professional hunting guides and professional hunters who could neither read nor write, but were skilled and trained in this field.
A total of 1 140 Namibians have qualified at the Eagle’s Rock Hunting School since Volker Grellmann opened it in 2002. The hunting school is but one of the many training initiatives of NAPHA. Recently NAPHA presented a workshop to introduce emerging farmers to game farming and trophy hunting.
In a country as diverse as Namibia, boasting 14 different vegetation zones, having a harsh climate and hosting a wide range of flora and fauna, proper management of wildlife is of paramount importance. Due to Namibia’s increasing popularity as a hunting destination, there has been a significant increase in the number of foreign trophy hunters; each hoping for that ‘once in a lifetime’ prize trophy. But, like any pyramid, there is a limited top segment. It takes time and sound management to sustain a healthy trophy-quality population. It is our duty as the ones who utilise this natural resource to protect it through ethical behaviour and sound management practices.
Lively debates often surface when defining the difference between conservation and preservation. A theory that comes to mind is that preservation is the management of perilous wildlife populations and conservation is the management of thriving wildlife populations. I believe there is a fine line between these two concepts and that the scales need constant balancing to obtain and maintain a sustainable equilibrium.
Trophy hunting has its niche in this greater realm. It is my wish that with all our global wildlife management efforts, we will continue to have sustainable wildlife populations that will lure our hunting guests. There is no better place on earth to hunt than in Namibia.
Hunter’s greetings!
Diethelm Metzger President of NAPHA www.napha.com.na
