CETN: Activities and achievements

Planned activities

Compilation of a list of all the different types of "vegetation" and fauna found in the Kuiseb Delta area and to have trails expertly designed. This will all be achieved in cooperation with central and local Government, other NGOs and the local community, after the reserve has been promulgated
Expand and implement educational projects
Develop an environmental/ecological education centre for this intriguing and ecologically fragile area
Project to undertake atlassing of the sea, initially off Namibia, then South Africa and, finally, Angola

Current and ongoing activities

Implementing NEF project
Planning a project to undertake atlassing of the sea, firstly off Namibia then South Africa and finally Angola. In conjunction with BENEFIT and BCLME; financed by the Go Green fund of Nedbank
Giving lectures on the biodiversity of the Lagoon to the Environmental Students of the Polytechnic of Namibia
Assisting the Percy Fitzpatrick Institute and the Avian Demography Unit of the University of Cape Town with their research work on birds and the biodiversity of the lagoon and it's environs
Running an Environmental Knowledge competition for the coastal High and Secondary Schools (since 2000)
Assisting with the organising of the ornithological side of Rössing's Birding Day
Giving lectures to the Windhoek College of Education on the biodiversity of the Walvis Bay Ramsar Site (since 2003)
Conducting tours of the Walvis Bay wetland sites
Stopping the encroachment of buildings into the Ramsar Site wetlands
Giving input into
- The environmental committee for the new Navy Base
- Kuiseb River Basin Management Committee
- Benguela Current Large Management Ecosystem coastal committee (BCLME) (since 2004)
- The LA 21 committee and the LA 21 Technical Committee (since 2001)
- The Coastal Zone Management steering committee and the Namport Environmental Committee (since 2001)

2005

Information boards made, to be erected along the Lagoon promenade: four Ramsar information boards, two boards on the Lesser and Greater Flamingos and four boards on the common birds to be seen on the Lagoon.
Invited by MFMR to help identify birds caught as bycatch by the longliners, in collaboration with Seabird conservation manager of BirdLife South Africa
Drafting of a Code of Conduct for boat behaviour with cetaceans, at the request of MFMR which wants to introduce legislation for better control

2004

Working to stop the unsustainable developments along the beach between Walvis and Swakopmund

2003

In conjunction with Mark Boorman and Dr. Sandra Dantu we were invited by the Save the Rhino Trust of Namibia (SRT) to spend a week at the Ugab Base Camp helping five trackers to identify birds in their area

2001

DANIDA proceeded with their 3 year project - a feasibility study on the Lagoon and Bay. A computer model will be built in order to monitor the Lagoon in the future
Initiated work on the culverts on the road to the Salt Refinery in conjunction with the Municipality and the Walvis Bay Salt Refiners. No work had been done on them for three years and they had silted up to the extent that they were not functioning as they should

2000

Built artificial flamingo nests on an island in one of the new evaporation pans in the Saltworks. These were constructed on the same lines as those in the Camargue in France and was intended to encourage the flamingos to breed in Walvis Bay. This island was carefully chosen to be difficult for predators to reach
In November CETN received the Namibia Nature Foundation's (NNF) Environmental Award for the year 2000
Production of a video entitled "Why we require finance to manage the Walvis Bay Lagoon and its environs"

1999

In February we made arrangements with the Netherlands Management Co-operation Programme to send out an expert on wetlands to make a Pre-feasibility study on the Lagoon. This took place in July and was completed in November
In May we met with representatives from DANCED and noted their interest in the Lagoon project. We wrote to DANCED in August, as did MET and the Mayor of Walvis Bay asking them to assist us with Phase 2 of this project
The Walvis Bay Lagoon project was initiated under Agenda 21 at the suggestion of the Directorate of Environmental Affairs (DEA)
During the latter half of 1999 we had the envisaged Walvis Bay Nature Reserve surveyed. Signs were made, to be erected when the reserve has been ratified

1998

The Management Plan (Phase 1) was completed in August, presented to the Walvis Bay Council where it was accepted in principle
In March we applied to the Ramsar Small Grants Fund to assist with the work on the Lagoon. This was granted in December 1999

1997

Initiated workshop on Walvis Bay Lagoon in July in conjunction with the Ministry of Environment and Tourism (MET), Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources (MFMR) and the Municipality of Walvis Bay
Set up the 3 phases with MET and the Desert Research Foundation of Namibia (DRFN) and presented them to the Municipal Council and the Ministry of Environment and Tourism who accepted them without reservation. It was decided then to go ahead with Phase 1

Coastal Environment Trust of Namibia (CETN)