Browsing by Author "Van Schalkwyk, Diana L."

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    The contribution of wildlife to sustainable natural resource utilization in Namibia : a review
    (MDPI - Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute, 2010-11-15) Van Schalkwyk, Diana L.; McMillin, Kenneth W.; Witthuhn, R. Corli; Hoffman, Louw C.
    Namibia is the driest country in sub-Saharan Africa, but well known for its richness in species and sustainable natural resource utilization. The Namibian farming sector consists mainly of extensive farming systems. Cattle production contributes 54% of the livestock sector’s production output, followed by sheep and goats (25%), hides and skins (9%), and other forms of agricultural production (12%). Namibia’s freehold farmers have obtained ownership rights over land and livestock since the early 1900s; commercial rights over wildlife and plants were given to freehold farmers in 1967 and to communal farmers in 1996. Natural resource-based production systems then overtook agricultural production systems and exceeded it by a factor of at least two. The shift from practicing conservation to sustainable utilization of natural resources contributed to the rapid growth of wildlife utilization. The wildlife industry in Namibia is currently the only animal production system that is expanding. There are in total at least two million head of different wildlife species. The broader impact of the utilization of wildlife on the economy is estimated to be around N$ 1.3 billion. Tourism, live sales and trophy hunting, cannot sustain further growth. Wildlife farming could offer better opportunities for ensuring long-term sustainability. As the game meat trade in Namibia is not formalized, harvesting wildlife to satisfy the demand for game meat in export markets is still in its infancy. Sustainable harvesting of wildlife for meat production, however, has the potential to increase earnings to the beneficiaries in the wildlife sector.
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    Guidelines for the harvesting & processing of wild game in Namibia 2016
    (Republic of Namibia, Ministry of Environment & Tourism, 2016) Van Schalkwyk, Diana L.; Hoffman, Louwrens C.
    The wildlife industry in Namibia has shown tremendous growth over the past decades and is currently the only extensive animal production system within the country that is expanding. Several factors are responsible for the dramatic increase in wildlife in range and numbers across Namibia with the most important being the devolution of rights over wildlife by the state to freehold landowners and communal conservancies. Tourism, live sales and trophy hunting have significantly contributed to the tremendous growth, however they cannot alone sustain further growth. Harvesting wildlife for the purpose of meat production is a viable option, since there is a demand for healthy and high quality meat proteins to feed the ever-increasing world population. It is also predicted that Namibia will experience climate changes in the near future which will further necessitate the optimal management of wildlife herds. The need to hygienically harvest game spearheaded the writing of this guideline booklet with the intention of it being used by Namibian game farmers and game harvesting teams. However, this booklet is a guideline and hence does not replace any regulatory food laws with regards to the harvesting and processing of game for commercial meat production.