April 2010 – A recent meeting between Safari Adventure Company (a brand of Wilderness Safaris) and representatives of Doro !Nawas Conservancy reaffirmed the relationship between the ecotourism company and the community.

The meeting was the first since the Doro !Nawas Conservancy elected its new Chairman, Amingo Honneb. Honneb, a former principal at Welwitschia Junior Secondary School in Khorixas and holder of an Honours degree from UNISA, has been the Finance Manager for the Khorixas Town Council since 2008. One of Honneb’s goals as Chairman of the Conservancy is to “promote community tourism as a means of protecting and conserving wildlife in the Doro !Nawas Conservancy.”

This goal is very much in line with the relationship between the Conservancy and Safari Adventure Company/Wilderness Safaris, who signed a shareholders’ agreement in 2009.

What began as a landlord/tenant relationship has evolved into one where the Conservancy not only receives a percentage of revenue from Doro Nawas Camp but is also an equity shareholder in the company. The venture is a pioneering project that is described by Lena Florry, Damaraland area manager for Wilderness Safaris, as “a very positive experience for the community ... [who] ... can see that Doro Nawas Camp and the partnership have created jobs and contributed to ongoing education and training. The long-term prospects for the community and the camp are very good."

This statement is echoed in the results of a recent survey in which 78% of Doro Nawas Camp employees expressed a belief that tourism helps to reduce poverty in the greater area of the conservancy.

The relationship between the Doro !Nawas Conservancy and Safari Adventure Company is also based on transparency, as evidenced in additional agreements that have been concluded between the two parties, including a management contract and sales and marketing agreement.

“As we move forward, the community continue to be involved in the decision-making process through representation on the Conservancy committee and by participating in general awareness meetings,” stressed Honneb.

The original aims of the joint venture – to create a high-income, low-impact tourism camp for sustainable tourism; to train members of the local community in all aspects of tourism; to create immediate employment in a previously low-employment area; to uplift the local area financially and socially; and to allow local wildlife numbers to increase and stabilise – remain the guiding principles that guide Doro !Nawas Conservancy and Wilderness Safaris as they enter new agreements and forge a strong partnership for development in the region.

Ends.
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Notes:

Safari Adventure Company is an independent division operating within the Wilderness Safaris Group.

Reservations can be made through Safari Adventure Company offices:
Tel: + 27 11 257 5111, Fax: + 27 11 807 2110, Email: info@safariadventurecompany.com

Website: www.safariadventurecompany.com

Background information on Doro !Nawas Conservancy

Registered in December 1999, Doro !Nawas is now a well established community conservancy. Home to the Petrified Forest, the Conservancy is 407 300 hectares and represents some 500 community members. The Conservancy employs nine Community Game Guards, an Office Coordinator, two Conservancy Facilitators and one Secretary. Revenue from the Doro Nawas Camp and other Conservancy initiatives has allowed the Conservancy to reinvest in employment opportunities and other important community projects.

Background information on Wilderness Safaris Namibia

Wilderness Safaris is a conservation organisation and ecotourism company dedicated to responsible tourism in southern Africa. Focused on creating sustainable conservation-based economies, Wilderness Safaris strives to ensure the protection of Africa’s spectacular natural heritage while at the same time, sharing the benefits of ecotourism with the people whose ancestral land is being visited. As long as these communities receive sustainable economic benefits that exceed alternative land uses, they have a powerful reason to commit to long-term conservation.

Recognising that conservation is as much about people as about the environment, the company has pursued important objectives through its Children in the Wilderness programme, as well as through the Wilderness Safaris Wildlife Trust. Wilderness Safaris firmly believes that its single most important achievement to date is to have built a sustainable business model that does not compromise environmental principles and which provides jobs, training, skills, careers, adjusted horizons and a realistic alternative to less sustainable development.

For more information, please contact: Rob Moffett - robm@wilderness-safaris.com