Namibia Nature Foundation
...Committed to conservation


Worldwide, one albatross is killed every five minutes in fishing operations; the Wandering Albatross is classified as Vulnerable
(photo Meidad Goren)

The Greater Flamingo (Vulnerable) is a flagship for the Walvis Bay Ramsar Site
(photo Keith Wearne)

The Endangered African Penguin could face extinction by the end of this century
(photo Jessica Kemper)

Regular counts are essential for monitoring coastal and marine birds
(photo Ann Scott)

The Damara Tern (Near Threatened) is a breeding endemic in Namibia
(photo Justine Braby)

Namibia Coastal/Marine Bird Working Group


Action plan for Namibia's Coastal and Marine Birds

In order to address the increasing threats to our coastal and marine birdlife, the Namibia Coastal/Marine Bird Action Plan was launched recently at a workshop at Swakopmund. View workshop report [pdf 797 kb]. The mission of the plan is to conserve Namibia's coastal and marine birds and their habitats, in partnership with the people who share these environments.

Almost 10% of Namibia's bird species are recognised as being under threat in the new Red Data Book (Simmons & Brown 2006), which goes into press in 2009. Of these, coastal and marine bird species represent 25%, inland wetland birds 32% and birds of prey 30%. The main threats to all of these birds include habitat loss/degradation; poisons; oil and other forms of pollution; over fishing, particularly of pilchards; by-catch in fishing operations; and a lack of environmental awareness and local ownership of biodiversity resources.

The action plan is being implemented by the Namibia Coastal Marine Bird Working Group, a partnership between the Namibia Nature Foundation (NNF); the NACOMA Project; institutions with a conservation mandate (e.g. Ministry of Environment & Tourism, Ministry of Fisheries & Marine Resources and local municipalities); and other civil society groups (e.g. the Coastal Environmental Trust of Namibia, the BirdLife International Albatross Task Force, Namibia Bird Club, Namibian Environment & Wildlife Society, Wetland Working Group); and many individuals in private capacity. The new working group is associated with two related NNF initiatives, namely the Namibia Crane Working Group (for cranes and other inland wetland birds); and Raptors Namibia (for birds of prey).

Among the priority issues identified in the plan are:

  1. Poor communication (local, national, regional and international)
  2. Lack of information, incomplete data sets
  3. Poor awareness/education; ignorance, apathy, negative attitudes
  4. Habitat loss due to human disturbance and to unsustainable tourism, recreation, development and harvesting
  5. Inadequate legislation/regulations and/or inadequate enforcement
  6. Lack of food availability for birds, in part due to overfishing and/or to poor resource management
  7. Seabird bycatch by different fisheries; lack of implementation of mitigation measures
  8. Lack of/inadequate protocols for disasters
  9. Lack of funding/sustainability for conservation initiatives

The proposed actions are to:

  1. Promote communication and cooperation
  2. Obtain/manage information
  3. Promote conservation awareness/education
  4. Manage coastal/marine bird populations and habitats by addressing threats
  5. Update the National Oil Spill Contingency Plan (NOSCP)
  6. Reduce seabird bycatch
  7. Develop a seabird rescue/rehabilitation protocol
  8. Promote project sustainability

Progress updates

  1. Newsletters for the project can be downloaded from the NACOMA website.
  2. Media release (May 2008) [pdf 22kb]
  3. Coastal and Marine bird training workshop (October 2008) - Workshop report [pdf 465 kb]

Funding

The Namibia Coastal/Marine Bird Action Plan is a joint initiative of NACOMA and NNF (and other partners). The initial workshop for the action plan was funded by NACOMA, and the newsletter is funded by GEF Small Grants Programme, through NNF.

More information/Enquiries

Please contact the Namibia Coastal/Marine Bird Working Group (email ecoserve@iway.na) if you would like further details of the action plan or to be placed on the mailing list for the newsletter (Namibia Coastal/Marine Bird News).

Ann & Mike Scott
Tel./fax (064) 404-866
Cell 081 284 5130

Full list of threatened coastal/marine birds in Namibia

(*also of global concern)

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