The Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Namibia informs:
On invitation by the Centre for Tropical Marine Eco-logy (Zentrum für Marine Tropenökologie ZMT) in Bremen, a delegation of the University of Namibia paid a visit to the institute during the middle of June this year. This was pre-ceded by a visit by scientists and represen-tatives of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research in February this year who accompanied the German Minister Dr. Schavan. During this visit possibilities of long-term co-operation in the re-search of desert and coastal ecological systems were discussed by the Pro-Vice-Chancellor of UNam, Prof. Osmund Mwandemele, the Director of the Sam Nu-joma Marine and Coastal Resources Research Centre at Henties Bay, Dr. Lawrence Oeller-mann, and staff members of the ZMT and the University of Bremen.
Since outbreaks of toxic gases occur unexpectedly in Namibia’s coastal wa-ters it is envisaged to develop a warning system in co-operation with the ZMT which will make it possible to remove the oyster cultures from the water timeously to prevent damage.
Since the outbreaks of gases cause oxygen de-ficiency in the water, research on the influence of oxygen deficiency on the oyster cultures is also envisaged.
The continuous erosion of Namib sand into the sea has influence on the coastal waters which is as yet unresearched. In co-ope-ration with the ZMT the possibility of curbing the erosion at the coastline with salt-tolerant plants will be investigated.
Furthermore the ZMT will assist UNam in the training of staff by sharing technical know-how.
A co-operation agreement on the exchange of staff and students was signed with the University of Bremen.
The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research supports the co-operation with Namibia.