INTRODUCTION

Two months ago we gathered at Sehlabathebe National Park in Lesotho at a similar occasion and signed a memorandum agreement on the establishment on the Maloti-Drakensberg Transfrontier Conservation Area. This follows shortly after the signing of similar agreements with Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Botswana. Our gathering here today consolidate that agenda to raise the level of regional cooperation on conservation and tourism.

Namibia and South Africa have acknowledged at presidential level that the Namib is a shared ecosystem, and, therefore, by improving its regional ecological management, a benefit of sustainable economic development will arise. The establishment of the Ai-Ais-Richtersveld Transfrontier Conservation Park (TFCP) will go a long way in supporting this goal.

The conservation and protection of our ecosystems know no political boundaries, and the establishment of this park bears testimony to that.

As we establish these parks, we focus on the development of partnerships between local people, non-governmental organisations, conservations agencies and the private sector with the aim of deriving optimal and equitable benefits from the management of these shared natural resources.

However, in order to achieve sustainable development in this sensitive environment, some outstanding principles for effective action need to be stressed.

We need to examine tourism needs and develop a multisectoral approach to alternative sources of income. This can reduce direct demands upon the desert resource base, which would otherwise have a negative bearing on the conservation and protection of plant, animal and all species in the park.

In the development of the part we need to build community management capacities. This should happen with every step we take and should encourage integrated land-use management practices.

As governments of both countries, we also have a duty to create a favourable policy environment to improve the management of available resources.

Today we are creating a very special conservation area that will be yet another step towards consolidating regional economic integration in southern Africa. We are creating history between our two countries, our region and our continent.

Through our ability to work together in the collective interest of conservation, Namibia and South Africa, as two sovereign countries joined in the joint management of the soon-to-be-established park, are proclaiming the regional unity of the subcontinent of Africa. By pooling our conservation resources in this park, we are realising a greater goal for both conservation and our region.

The framework in which we move from today should be one that commits us to give our full attention to the acceleration of economic growth, improves the living conditions of the poor majority, while ensuring the conservation, sustainable and equitable use of our natural resources.

The geological features of the area are of great interest to both naturalists and geologists, with a variety of rock formations and a world-class botanical microcosm.

More recently a variety of socio-economic and political factors in the northern Richtersveld have forced the Namas from a fully nomadic to a more semi-nomadic way of life.

The greater Richtersveld with its four villages (Kuboes, Lacquering, Sanddrift and Eksteenfontein) and a combined population of 4 000-5 000 thus houses a true rainbow nation of Nama, Bosluis Baster, Xhosa, European and other cultures.

Over the past decades the mining industry formed the base of the regional economy in the vicinity of the Park; in Namaqualand mining produces 86% of the region's gross domestic product and employs 46% of the economically active population. Increases in mining activity, therefore, appear unlikely.

What can be achieved?

With proper planning and a sound vision, benefits from a conservation-based action within the current environment have potential to compete with other livelihoods such as livestock farming.

Existing tourism development strategies pertaining to sectors in the TFCP will be used as a base for development, and at present hardly any regional activity such as the Richtersveld National Park could be classed as such.

As we develop the develop the park, activities with great potential for tourism include, among others, guided tours by vehicle, hiking trails and overnight camping, specialist botanical, geological, ornithological, photographic, or cultural tours, draught animal safaris, etc.

Conclusion

This event today follows hot on the heels of the adoption of the Africa Initiative. This plan recognises that a healthy and productive environment is a prerequisite for the Africa Initiative, and that the range of issues necessary to nurture this environmental base is vast and complex. Also highlighted is that a systematic combination of initiatives is necessary in order to develop a coherent environmental programme.

This plan also recognises that a core objective of the environment initiative must be to combat poverty and contribute to socio-economic development in Africa.

It has been shown that many of the steps taken to achieve a healthy environmental base can contribute greatly to employment, empowerment, social cohesion, dignity and the reduction of poverty.

The sub-theme of the transfrontier conservation areas is to seek to build on the emerging initiatives to seek partnerships across countries that boost conservation and tourism, and therefore create or protect jobs.

Our initiative here today must be seen within this bigger picture to give practical expression to the African Renaissance through real economic benefit for our people.