What is Life without Wildlife and Tourism?

Wildlife and tourism are the most common source of income here in Namibia. In America, the closest things to seeing wildlife animals are in zoos. Unlike America, Namibia has more than three big national parks full of wildlife or as they like to call it “Game.” Throughout this study abroad experience, we have traveled all over Namibia to see different tourist sites such as farm tours, wildlife game tours, different restaurants, the living desert tour, Sossusveli sand dune also know as “Big Daddy,” and many other lovely attractions. Tourism is very important to this country, especially for rural areas. We saw different animals such as: oryx, kudu, springbok, giraffes, elephants, cheetahs, lions, and etc. Wildlife animals in Namibia are endangered because of the lack of resources and hunting.

Namibia’s tourism industry contributes a lot to wildlife conservancies and biodiversity protection, poverty, and also creating different projects for unemployed persons. Namibia Vision 2030 states, “Through the CBNRM (community based natural resource management) program, communities in communal areas invest in wildlife and benefit from the resulting tourism development opportunities.” The CBNRM helps people to develop ideas for tourist attraction.

Namibia declared their independence 24 years ago; since then, tourism has grown tremendously.  According to the World Tourism Organization, the number of international tourist arrivals worldwide grew by 2.7% in 2002, after a decrease of 0.5% in 2001. Tourism has increased annually. World Tourism Organization also indicates that, “ by 2010, Africa’s share of international tourists will have more than doubled, taking 1995 as the base year. Globally, tourism accounts for one in every 12 jobs.”

In conclusion, if Namibia continues to grow and use the CBNRM resources, there will be more jobs and generated sources of income.