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The 6,000 sq. mile Namibian Islands’ marine protected area (MPA) is rich in biodiversity, supporting key seabird and mammal populations. However, since its gazettement in 2009, lack of staff, funding, and a management plan have left it vulnerable to overfishing, mining, pollution, phosphate extraction, and live mammal harvesting.
In the Karas region of southern Namibia is the quiet town of Lüderitz, whose rugged Atlantic coastline is known for its fresh rock lobster, oysters and mussels. On land it is surrounded by the Namib Desert and at sea lies the Namibian Islands Marine Protected Area (NIMPA). The 9,500 sq km of the NIMPA is an area of outstanding marine biodiversity, supporting globally significant populations of seabirds and marine mammals, and important marine industries.
Despite being Africa’s second-largest MPA, it is threatened by overfishing, mining, pollution, untested phosphate extraction, and live marine mammal harvesting. Since its gazettement in 2009, insufficient government resourcing and an inadequate management framework have meant that it has failed to protect many of its key values.
With our partners Namibia Nature Foundation (NNF) we are supporting the Namibian government to achieve effective management of the NIMPA, and improve the livelihood opportunities of coastal communities. In 2024, we facilitated training and a workshop whose focus was the revised management plan and regulations for NIMPA, and which included government staff and wider stakeholders.
Our Blue Economics unit supported the NIMPA+ project by producing two economic reports together with the Namibia Nature Foundation. One of these – ‘Scoping Report on Potential Finance Mechanisms and Blended Finance Options for the NIMPA’ – was presented to the Namibian Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources and will be used to support the writing of a sustainable finance plan. The Blue Education unit also created its first ever Ocean Literacy Toolkit, to reinforce the long-term conservation goals in Namibia through contextualised marine education.
The Namibian government has committed to designating 10 per cent of the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone as MPAs. To support this, we hope to use the lessons learned and models generated from NIMPA to inform the designation of two new MPAs by designating Ecologically and Biologically Significant Areas. Candidates for this include Cape Fria, a strong upwelling cell 1,000 km north of Luderitz within a bio-geographic transition zone, and the Namibe, a region shared with neighbouring Angola.
Working with our partners in southwest Africa the Namibia Nature Foundation, our Blue Education unit has launched its Namibian Ocean Literacy Toolkit. This is the first of our Blue Ocean Learning Toolkits (BOLTs), which aim to bring a wider understanding of the ocean into the classroom. This toolkit is framed by UNESCO’s seven Ocean Literacy Principles and supports teachers to expand ocean education in Namibia using contextual case studies and engaging activities.
Blue Marine produced the toolkit through a series of collaborative workshops in Namibia, attended by teachers, representatives from the National Institute for Educational Development (NIED), Namib Desert Environmental Education Trust (NaDEET) and EduVentures. The workshops culminated in a three-day knowledge sharing and review event in the Atlantic resort of Swakopmund in November 2024. The group told us they felt proud to have such an instrumental role in this important resource for promoting ocean understanding across Namibia.
Explore our Ocean Literacy Toolkit for Namibia here.
Check out the NIMPA+ website here.
