A similar ceremony will take place next Monday, 5June in M’Kata (western Tsumkwe) and on 8 June in Katima Mulilo to official inaugurate the community forests of Western Tsumkwe and Caprivi.

High-ranking government officials from the German Embassy, German Development Service, traditional authorities and the civic society are expected to attend. A series of activities to mark the days have been organised to include traditional performances and forest-related activities in Ncumcara and Ncaute community forests (Okavango) and M’Kata, Masida and Bukalo community forests for Western Tsumkwe and Caprivi region. There will also be field trips to several project areas to provide opportunities to know about the project’s developments and achievements.

Through the signing of community forest agreements with the Agriculture ministry in November 2004, and the subsequent publishing in the Government Gazette No. 3590 of 14 February 2006, the 8 community forests of Bukalo, Masida and Lubuta in Caprivi region, M’kata in West Tsumkwe, Mbeyo, Ncamagoro, Ncaute and Ncumcara in the Okavango region were granted conditional use rights for forest products. This gives the communities legal ownership over the forest resources in the respective areas, according to Wolfgang Adamek, who is involved in the project.

Based on the provisions of the Forest Act of 2001, the community forestry project assists local communities to establish their own community forests, to manage and utilize them in a sustainable manner. With the provision of logistical, administrative and technical support, communities are empowered to protect and preserve their indigenous forests as a basis for peoples’ lives, and for income generation aimed to improve local livelihoods. The activities within the forest management operations aim to create social and economic incentives for the local communities based on a sustainable forest management plan.

The communities have all met the requirements for being declared community forests. These include having a Forest Management Committee (FMC) in place, a management plan, a working constitution and by-laws signed by all members. Their forest boundaries are clearly demarcated to distinguish them from the other forests. The management plans spell out activities of the forest management committees and the benefit sharing from their forest management operations.

As a core programme of the directorate of forestry and an important component of the German-Namibian development cooperation, community forestry contributes to the achievement of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) such as environmental sustainability, poverty reduction and gender equality.