Windhoek, March 14–On Friday, March 11, 2022, Nedbank Namibia announced this year’s Go Green Fund grants whereby seven projects will receive their share of funding. A total of N$ 747,745, to support the environment and preserve nature conservation in Namibia was committed to help Namibia in its quest to build a green economy.
The fund, which is managed by the Namibia Nature Foundation (NNF), aims to enhance conservation and protect natural resources in the country. This is done through the support of individuals and organisations in Namibia that are working towards a more sustainable future.
Speaking at the opening, Nedbank Managing Director, Martha Murorua said, ‘Since its establishment in 2001, the Go Green Fund has managed to fund over 40 projects in the environmental sector. Over the 21 years, the Nedbank Namibia Go Green Fund has supported individuals and organisations working towards a sustainable future for Namibians, endemic species and habitats,” she said.
Grants have also been provided to support urgent work with elephants, the brown hyena, giraffes, the African wild dog, dolphins, and a range of carnivores, as well as human-wildlife conflict and poaching.
This year, the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST), through its project Kaokoflora, will receive N$149,500. Whilst the National Botanical Research Institute (NBRI), which is administered by the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism, is set to receive N$220,000 for two projects. The first project, which will receive N$120 000, entails identifying and delimiting important plant areas (IPA) in Namibia: case study: Warmbad.
Under the second project, the National Botanical Research Institute will be exploring and conserving plant diversity in the Kunene Region of Namibia through botanical collections. The Go Green Fund has allocated N$100,000 to this project. A N$119 000 grant is also allocated to Stellenbosch University for its project on species diversity and geographic distribution of termites and their symbiotic fungi in Namibia. A biodiversity inventory of the central Namib inselbergs project by Gobabeb-Namib Research will receive N$98,445. The National Museum of Namibia, Windhoek (NMNW) will receive N$106, 000 for its project, discovering Namibia’s cryptic diversity through a national faunal DNA collection. Another N$54,800 will be allocated to the Kwando Carnivore Project towards its project for a Baseline Survey of Cheetahs and African Wild Dogs in the Mudumu Landscape.
Since its establishment in 2001, the Nedbank Namibia Go Green Fund, in partnership with the Namibia Nature Foundation, has been the go-to non-profit fund to support individuals and organisations working towards a sustainable future for Namibians, endemic species and habitats. All these efforts by the Nedbank Namibia Go Green Fund will inadvertently help accelerate Namibia’s green economy objectives. The fund also supports environmental research projects into lichen fields, Oxpeckers, baobab trees, Nile crocodiles, Cape ground squirrels, and community fishing projects, to name a few.
So far, the Nedbank Namibia Go Green Fund has fully or partly funded projects for 21 years with the goal of promoting conservation, education, sustainability, awareness and action “Nedbank Namibia appreciates that funding is often very limited and that the government can only do a limited amount of environmental work. Funding from the private sector is therefore an absolute imperative to sustain the commitments,” said Murorua.
The world is moving towards the prospects of a green economy.
In Namibia, the government is already committed to this path. The country’s green hydrogen project, earmarked for the Tsau-Khaeb National Park near Lüderitz, is likely to create 15,000 direct jobs and 3,000 more during full operations. Through a well-coordinated effort, humans, trees, and animals can all persevere and safely live together.
In accordance with this, the Nedbank Namibia Go Green Fund, with its partners, is working to combat poaching and to find solutions to address the challenges of communities living amongst valuable wildlife that threatens their livelihoods and lives.
mrobert@namibiadailynews.info
