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Parks of trash - Waste management under spotlight
Staff Reporter
A GEMSBOK feeding on a half-eaten hamburger still partly wrapped in plastic on the Namibia Wildlife Resorts (NWR) managed Sesriem dumpsite has exposed a growing environmental disaster of epidemic proportions in most, if not all, of the country’s prime tourism destinations.
The image of the revered desert-adapted Namibian antelope, which was honoured at Independence by being included in the Namibian Coat of Arms, sparked an investigation and exposed nearly non-existent environmental management programmes in place, in spite of millions having been availed and dozens of policies and workshops by the NWR on recycling, pollution and the protection of Namibia’s natural beauty.
The NWR trash embarrassment follows despite a national clean-up campaign launched by President Dr Hage Geingob at the end of May this year, that enjoyed international acclaim and near unanimous national participation and support countrywide.
The investigation exposed an even greater environmental risk by a lack of NWR waste management at the Waterberg Plateau Park, where cattle are sharing grazing land with the country’s only buffalo population south of the Red Line. Sewerage is also seeping towards the historic gravesite of the legendary Kambazembi chief and important families of the battle of Hamakari.
The shared grazing between Waterberg buffaloes and cattle can jeopardise Namibia’s meat exports to the European Union (EU).
Also recently, an adjacent area was under quarantine when a buffalo was spotted outside the park. In one instance, a buffalo that ventured outside the park was shot and destroyed in front of shocked tourists, while there is no control over cattle moving in and out of the park through dilapidated border fences.
And near the equally historic Fort Namutoni of the Etosha National Park, where a donated plastic recycling plant stands unused and seemingly rusting away, wildlife is also grazing amongst plastic.
At the Sesriem campsite, eyewitnesses who stayed there were shocked by the flood of uncontrollable rubbish sweeping through the pristine desert into the world renowned dune belt. When the rubbish is collected from the drums by the NWR staff, it is dumped together and ends up in one heap in the open rubbish dump behind the staff houses.
On 15 June 2018, the Ministry of Environment and Tourism issued a press release which stated that, “the Ministry of Environment and Tourism would like to inform that an amendment to the regulation relating to the Nature Conservation Ordinance, 1974 (4 of 1875) to restrict the use of plastic bags in National Parks was approved and gazetted in 2017”.
The press release further stated, “However, these regulations are not yet being implemented as the Ministry is still putting measures and systems in place before full implementation.”
The ministry said its, “intention is to ensure our parks are clean and free of plastic bags, considering their harmful nature to our wildlife and the environment. As the Ministry of Environment and Tourism, it is our view that all types of litter negatively affect the pristine nature of Namibia’s environment, the quality of life of its population and create a bad impression among to (sic) our visitors”.
Quelle: fb Informante
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