Traditional arts and crafts are favourites as souvenirs with tourists when they come to Namibia. One of the key sources of cash for many San Women in Nyae Nyae Conservancy is traditional craft making. During the lockdown there have been precious few tourists, certainly no international guests. While this sector has suffered along with all sectors linked to tourism, Nyae Nyae Development Foundation and Nyae Nyae Conservancy are working together to try and maintain this sector in order to support the craft makers and the many dependents that rely on the...

With the support of MEFT, the Nyae Nyae Conservancy undertook its annual game count in September, 2020. This involved wildlife rangers and volunteers observing the 18 water points around the Nyae Nyae Conservancy. They do this for 48 hours counting the different species of game coming to drink at each water point.

Through the work of CoFeed Namibia and their generous donors, every village in Nyae Nyae and N≠a Jaqna Conservancy have received a box of clothes and another box of food.  A vast amount of clothes and food have been donated by Woolworths, Cymot, RMB Namibia through the Hope initiative of FirstRand Namibia, Bokomo Namibia and private individuals. These donations are being distributed to the San communities in Nyae Nyae and N≠a Jaqna Conservancies during July and August. The San communities always find the winter months difficult, but with COVID-19 and the...

In March 2020, a European Union funded conservancy governance project was started in the San run N≠a Jaqna Conservancy. As the conservancy were about to start visiting villages and consulting with their members as part of the project, the  COVID-19 nationwide shut-down happened and the village meetings were put on hold. However, earlier this month as lock down restrictions began to ease, the N≠a Jaqna Conservancy management team re-started its community consultations, while ensuring that they comply with distancing and sanitation requirements. COVID-19 cannot and wasn’t going to indefinitely block the...

The San  in Nyae Nyae Conservancy have become increasingly reliant on farming. Climate change is having a huge impact on the San communities traditional way of living and food security. The ‘home gardening’ project supported by the Nyae Nyae Development Fund Namibia (NNDFN) and its donors is bearing fruit after a good rainy season. The recent rains have ensured that the effort the Nyae Nyae Conservancy and their communities have invested in home gardens has paid off. Watermelons have grown in the home gardens and are ready for harvesting. Whether for...

Namibia is a dry country, we all know that. Its people have manged to live, survive and thrive here for thousands of years. Just look at the indigenous communities like the San. The San in Nyae Nyae Conservancy who live and care for the areas where they live noticed a trend. A dangerous trend, one where more area was damaged by fire each year. In the Nyae Nyae Conservancy, in 2010 over 50% of the conservancy area burned and despite some fluctuations there was a continuous upward trend which if not addressed in one way or another would seriously impact and threaten the survival of the community as well as fauna and flora in the area.

Funded by the European Union and Finnish Embassy several projects started to increase agricultural and livestock management capacity in two San communities where food security is a serious and daily threat to their wellbeing.

Water Development in Nyae Nyae Conservancy has taken many years. The Conservancy is responsible for approximately half the village and game water points in the area, which means over 20 water points spread throughout the nearly 9,000km² of the area.

The first priority was to ensure that boreholes functioned and solar submersible pumps were slowing introduced. However, with over 1000 elephants in the area water points were often destroyed by elephants looking for water, so water point had to be protected from the elephants as well as the maintenance of game water points to ensure they have access to water and keep elephants away from villages.

What started out as a micro-project 30 years ago, has evovled into a viable way of generating income for the community at Nyae Nyae. The truly artisanal craft makers of the Nyae Nyae Conservancy produce traditional jewellery using ostrich egg shells. This jewellery is of such an exceptional quality that it is now being exported and sold in Europe.

The Nyae Nyae Conservancy and Community Forest II Project have taken an pro-active approach to dealing with fires in their communal areas with tangible visible positive results.
In 2012, 50% of the whole Nyae Nyae area burnt, resulting in the loss of life as well as damage to rangeland, wildlife and the environment through CO² emissions. The late hot fires of September and October are particularly damaging and uncontrollable, causing widespread devastation. The new approach taken in Nyae Nyae fits with the San cultural tradition of selective burning in the cooler months of May-July. This allows the fires to be better controlled and the fuel load reduced to prevent the later and more damaging hot fires.

Recently seven San agricultural and livestock champions from Nyae Nyae and N≠a Jaqna Conservancy visited the “collective style” commercial farm, Krumhuk, just outside Windhoek. Krumhuk operates on bio-dynamic, organic and holistic management principles that the champions are introducing in their villages in the Otjozondjupa Region.

This newsletter is the follow-up to the Dealing with Climate Change brochure distributed in 2015. The purpose is to provide an update on the EU-funded Climate Change Project and also to provide regular tips and suggestions about how everyone can take action to deal with the impacts of Climate Change.

The Community Based Fire Management Training Manual was developed as a component of the natural resource management capacity building programme of the Nyae-Nyae Conservancy and Community Forest and N≠a Jaqna Conservancy in the Otjozondjupa Region of Namibia.

In cooperation with the EU, NNDFN created a brochure about climate change in the N≠a Jaqna Conservancy, Nyae Nyae Conservancy and Community Forests. This brochure was produced in three languages English, Afrikaans and Ju/'Hoan.

The craft project was started over 20 years ago as a means of generating income for the, largely female, population of craft makers in Nyae Nyae Conservancy.

The Living Culture Foundation Namibia build up two Living Museums in the area of the Ju/'Hoansi-San. The Living Museum of the Ju/'Hoansi in the N#a Jaqna Conservancy and the Little Hunter's Museum in the Nyae Nyae Conservancy. Since opening the Living Museums are receiving support from the NNDFN. The Living Museums combine three goal: The conservation and transfer of traditional culture, the creation of an income source in local areas in Namibia and the development of a cultural and intercultural educational institution. More information can be found on the website of...