WINDHOEK, June 8 — Namibia is seeking to expand protection of its marine ecosystems as it works toward meeting global biodiversity conservation targets, Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water, and Land Reform Inge Zaamwani said Monday.
Speaking at a ceremony marking World Ocean Day in the capital city of Windhoek, Zaamwani said Namibia has made strong progress in conserving terrestrial ecosystems but still lags behind in marine protection. Citing data from the 2026 United Nations Environment Program Target Tracker, Zaamwani said Namibia has conserved 39.92 percent of its terrestrial and inland water areas, compared with just 1.69 percent of its marine and coastal areas.
She said Namibia has taken conservation measures, including the proclamation of the Namibian Islands’ Marine Protected Area in 2008, with regulations gazetted in 2012, to protect biodiversity and vulnerable seabird populations.
According to the minister, Namibia has identified several ecologically and biologically significant areas and is working toward declaring some of them protected areas under its commitment to the Convention on Biological Diversity’s “30 by 30” target, which calls for conserving at least 30 percent of terrestrial, inland water, coastal, and marine areas by 2030.
Zaamwani also highlighted Namibia’s efforts to sustainably manage marine resources through annual scientific assessments that determine total allowable catches for key commercial fish species, including hake and horse mackerel.
Other measures include closed fishing areas and seasons, mesh-size regulations, and bycatch controls to reduce the impact of fishing activities on marine ecosystems, she added. (Namibia Daily News / Xinhua)
