Namib Sand Sea

An Association for the ≠Aonin (Topnaar) Community was established on 18 August 2021, with the official launch on 3 December 2021 for the sustainable management and conservation of natural resources in the Dorob National Park (DNP) and Namib Naukluft National Park (NNNP). An exchange visit to the Bwabwata National Park and Mudumu North/ South Landscapes in the Namibia Component of KAZA TFCA took place in March 2022 to build capacity and create awareness for the newly established Topnaar Association Management Committee (Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism, 2022). The Association is guided by its own Constitution, the 2021 Management Plan for Namib Naukluft National Park 2021/2022-2030/2031 (Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism, 2021), the Land Use and Development Plan for the Kuiseb Valley Managed Resource Use zones of the Namib Naukluft and Dorob National Parks 2020 – 2029 (Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism, 2021b) and the National Policy on Protected Areas' Neighbours and Resident Communities (Ministry of Environment and Tourism, 2013b). A formal agreement between the Ministry and the Topnaar Association will formalize areas of cooperation and coordination and enhance co-management within the Park. According to the current management plan this agreement should inter alia prioritize and facilitate cooperation and coordination in issues such as the implementation of the land use plan for the Managed Resource Use Zone, the location of settlements, access control, livestock management, human wildlife conflict management, harvesting of natural resources, wildlife monitoring and crime prevention and law enforcement. The primary objectives of the Association are to: sensitize and unite the residents of the Namib Naukluft Park and Dorob National Park to protect the wildlife, the environment as a whole: and to derive benefits from the sustainable management and consumptive and non-consumptive utilization parks resources. The objectives shall be carried in accordance with the laws of Namibia and regulations, guidelines and policies of the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism. The Association shall manage property for the benefit of and on behalf of its members subject to the terms and conditions of its Constitution. Although there are no people living inside the site, the Topnaar community is settled along its northern boundary, within the Namib Naukluft National Park and buffer zone of the WH property. The Topnaar community wants to gain formal recognition of ancestral rights to land and resources for preferential access to the benefits of tourism, recognition and protection of community culture and unrestricted access to Topnaar cultural sites. The national policy on protected areas and neighbours/residents allows for consultation, benefit sharing, right to practice cultural customs etc. within the framework of national laws and regulations.

Overall, the Dorob, Namib Naukluft and Topnaar stakeholder relationship is improving, participatory management is taking shape and co-management approaches to landscapes and biodiversity conservation across different land tenure systems with different land owners or custodians is being explored. Various agreements have been reached between the Ministry of Environment and the traditional authority. These include access to tourism opportunities through the allocation of concessions, an annual wildlife utilization quota, and accepting the need for the Topnaar community to continue their traditional subsistence and lifestyle practices within the context of national development (Management Plan NSS World Heritage Site 2014).

Co-management of natural resources is not new in Namibia - the Greater Sossusvlei-Namib Landscape is managed under a co-management approach whereby there is high-level consensus amongst all stakeholders on developing an overall vision, objectives and targets that will be to the greater good of all stakeholders, achieved through the implementation of an agreed plan. The Strategic Collaborative Management and Development Plan for Greater Sossusvlei – Namib Landscape 2013 – 2018 was the first formal and visionary landscape management instrument that the Ministry at that time supported.

A planned outcome of the current management plan is the establishment of a landscape-level structure such as the Central Namib Conservation Landscape Management Unit in which park neighbours and stakeholders including local authorities, SOEs, conservancies and the private sector participate and are updated of park objectives to ensure that their actions are compatible with the objective of open connected landscapes.

The Land use and development plan for the Kuiseb Valley managed resource use zones of the Namib Naukluft and Dorob National also specifies participatory processes for determining appropriate restrictions on use i.e. via community meetings and only moving forward with decisions once Free, Prior Informed Consent has been received. Mitigation measures to address potential adverse impacts on livelihoods, grievance procedures and ongoing community engagement activities are also addressed in the plan (Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism, 2021b).

The property is entirely state-owned, managed by the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism (MEFT), and is subject to specific regulations regarding natural resource use and general access rights. Vast areas of the Namib Sand Sea have been legally protected and restricted for a long time, some of which has been protected since 1907 (Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism, 2021). The management system is designed to conform to the relevant rules and regulations, e.g. the Public Service Act, the State Finance Act, the National Planning Act, the Labour Act, and other relevant laws that governs how public officials manage state assets. The procedural components of the management system furthermore comply with legal instruments and policies designed specifically for environmental conservation, inter alia the Nature Conservation Ordinance, the Environmental Management Act, the Tourism Act, the Concessions policy, and the Lands policy. The management approach to the Namib Sand Sea conforms to the policies and procedures of the Government of the Republic of Namibia as advised by the Office of the Prime Minister. It consists of an integrated system of strategic (long-term), operational (medium-term), and activity (annual) planning. Whilst the Nature Conservation Ordinance provides for the conservation of nature and establishment of game parks and nature reserves, several other bodies of legislation are relevant to management of the property including the Environment Management Act (2007), Minerals (Prospecting and Mining) Act (1992), Namibian Tourism Board Act (2000), National Heritage Act (2004), and Water Resources Management Bill (2004). Whilst none of the existing legislation have specific mandate that provides the level of protection required to guarantee the future integrity of the property, particularly in respect of mining, tourism and community rights, a Tourism Development Plan was commissioned and a National Policy on Protected Areas' Neighbours and Resident Communities and the recent formation of the Topnaar Association has addressed threats from tourism, indigenous peoples' concerns and biodiversity conservation. That being the case there is still need to promulgate laws or policies that regulate mining, water abstraction and sustainable resource use in protected areas including the World Heritage property leading to (a) the permanent cessation of all mineral prospecting and mining, (b) sustainable water extraction and (c) the recognition of indigenous community rights and their accommodation within the management of the property. Although there is no law in Namibia that prohibits prospecting and mining within World Heritage properties, the national policy on prospecting and mining in protected areas states that "protected areas or areas within protected areas that have the following characteristics will be excluded from prospecting and mining: Sites of high and/or unique cultural, historic and/or archaeological value. These are areas zoned as such through appropriate culture or heritage legislation." Nevertheless, the legal protection could be strengthening by incorporating this into the legal framework.

The current management plan takes a regional approach to stakeholder engagement, aiming to interact with all park neighbours, residents and stakeholders and to establish functional structures to ensure effective consultation and collaboration for management activities and decision-making pathways (Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism, 2021). There is a Park Advisory Committee to serve as an advisory body for the park, which comprises of the Ministry fo Environment, Forestry and Tourism and all major stakeholders (e.g. Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources, Ministry of Mining and Energy, local authorities, roads authority, NamWater, the Greater Sossusvlei Namib Landscape (GSNL), Topnaar Association, mining and tourism industries). The Advisory Committee meets on a quarterly basis. For private sector engagement, the Friends of Namib-Naukluft National Park has been operationalised to facilitate private sector support. There is an annual adaptive management planning meeting as well. The extent to which grievance mechanisms are in place is unclear.

Management of the property is well integrated with regional and national planning systems. The nomination dossier (Namibia, 2012) lists 24 national, regional and local plans supporting conservation of the property, ranging from Namibia’s Vision 2030 to specific regional, municipality and village plans.

The Namib Naukluft National Park is located along the coast between Dorob National Park and Tsau // Khaeb (Sperrgebiet) National Park. The park extends to 49,768 km21. The park’s northern border is shared with the Dorob National Park, while to the south it is continuous with the Tsau /Khaeb (Sperrgebiet) National Park. The entire eastern border of the park is shared with commercial farms of which the majority are privately owned, and the remainder are State-owned resettlement farms. West of the park is entirely covered by the Atlantic Ocean. The boundaries of the World Heritage property fall within the Namib Naukluft National Park, encompassing about 60% of the Park. They have been carefully designed to embrace as much as possible of the pristine sand sea habitats within the park, whilst excluding areas of the park that might be subject to future mining, abstraction of water or high-impact tourism activities (such as recreational quad-bike use etc). The boundaries of the property follow natural features where possible, using the coast-line to define the western boundary, and the Kuiseb River as its northern boundary (excluding a section near its mouth where water abstraction is likely). Meanwhile, the eastern and southern boundaries are simply ‘lines in the sand’, designed to allow an area of sufficient size outside the property (but still within the park) to be allocated for uses that may not be compatible with world heritage status. The property is surrounded by a buffer zone of variable width along its northern, eastern and southern boundaries. This buffer zone (8 995 km2) lies entirely within the Namib Naukluft National Park, and its eastern and southern boundaries extend to the boundary of the park. Furthermore, the eastern boundary of the park borders on large-scale private land-holdings that are increasingly given over to tourism, game-ranching and other land-uses that enhance the ecological viability of the wider landscape. These private properties serve effectively as a useful ‘outer buffer zone’ (although this is not formally recognised or supported by legislation) (IUCN, 2013). Generally, the park boundary demarcation and of the World Heritage site is effective and well maintained. Furthermore, boundaries are communicated to park staff, visitors, private land owners and the Topnaar community to ensure full understanding of management zones. Some lack of clarity on ownership of farms within the park boundaries (not within the World Heritage site) needs to be clarified so that in the case of sales or transfers, the sustainable land management practices can be continued.

The management of the Sandwich Harbour Ramsar Site has been integrated with the management of the Namib Naukluft NP and the authorities aim to develop a landscape-level structure to ensure that all stakeholders, including those bordering the National Park are involved in decision-making processes. Both the World Heritage and Ramsar site share the threats from potential over-tourism and water extraction. The Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism (MEFT) is currently seeking proposals from interested entities to manage Sandwich Harbour with a view to prevent negative impacts from tourism on the wildlife and scenic beauty of the Sandwich Harbour Ramsar Site (Namibian Sun, 2024)

The recommendations from the UNESCO WH Committee at the time of inscription (Decision 37 COM 8B.8) have been individually addressed in the current management plan, including the implementation activities that have been executed or planned. Thereby, all recommendations have been either already addressed or are currently being addressed.

The current management plan addresses climate action for example through habitat restoration and rehabilitation (control of invasive alien species, creation of wildlife corridors, improving overall landscape connectivity), promoting sustainable tourism practices and engaging with local communities (raising awareness, fostering engagement in conservation activities).

Gobabeb - Namib Research Institute has a good outreach to other regions through the YES programme on the NSS WHS to schools in Erongo, Hardap and //Kharas Regions and has recently launched the CAMP (Climate Action for Millennials Programme) - providing intensive training to young graduates on climate change related topics (Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism, 2021).

The property is state-owned land and lies within the Namib Naukluft National Park. It is managed by the Ministry of Environment Forestry and Tourism, guided by the Nature Conservation Ordinance (1975) and Management Plan for Namib-Naukluft National Park 2021/2022-2030/2031. Protection of the area dates back over a century. The legal establishment of the Namib Naukluft National Park, encompassing the NSS, has involved seven different stages starting in 1907 and culminating in 1986. The first stage involved the establishment of a game reserve on the northern edge of the NSS, and this was progressively expanded with the addition of further areas until the present configuration of the Namib Naukluft National Park was achieved in 1986.

The Management Plan of the NSS which was finalized in 2021 addresses issues such as conservation, research, monitoring, tourism, enforcement, education, traditional practices and cultural heritage within the context and aspirations for national and regional development (Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism, 2021). The property has a zonation map which illustrates the operational management zones. The Namib Naukluft National Park integrated management plan 2021/2022-2030/2031, was commissioned and published by the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism with funding from the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany through the Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau Development Bank (KfW).

The Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism collaborates with Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources, Namibian Police and Ministry of Justice and the Topnaar Association to combat crime. Conservation officials carry out law enforcement patrols and surveillance in order to maintain compliance with regulations and laws in regard to such issues like speed limits, off- road driving, illegal hunting, flying heights, camping restrictions and management of waste. The recently established Namib Naukluft National Park headquarters at Sesriem is a focal point to strenghten law enforcement activities on behalf of the management authority, including an increase in qualified staff and training and development. Tourist control measures will be enforced on a high level, and during peak seasons other Namib-Naukluft National Park staff members from Zais and Ganab stations will be called in for reinforcement. Namibian Police stationed at Sesriem plays a vital role in enforcing the law. There is visible decrease in off-road driving (MEFT 2020). Unlawful activities such as illegal use of wildlife and other natural resources as well as visitor transgressions of regulations intended to minimize impacts on the ecosystems, are currently rare (IUCN Consultation, 2020). Criminal activities are registered with Namibian Police, all the reported cases are recorded. The penalties for illegal killing, possession of meat and selling of meat without a permit will increase once the Wildlife Protected Areas Management Bill comes into force, supported by the existing National Strategy on Wildlife Protection and Law Enforcement 2021-2025 (Republic of Namibia, 2021).

Insufficient operating budget is listed in the current management plan as a key threat to the Namib-Naukluft National Park (Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism, 2021). In response, a key objective is to formalize an annual adaptive review and planning process to evaluate progress, adjust targets and develop the annual work plan and budget allocations, based on the operational plan. Park managers are expected to develop the work plan and budget allocations. It is clear that the budget received from the Ministry will not be sufficient to achieve all activities in the park management plan, therefore a careful prioritisation of annual activities is needed. Furthermore, the park staff aim to raise additional funds from external sources e.g. through GPTF, Friends of Parks and other donors. Total operational budget is 12,876,022 Namibian dollars according to the management plan.

There is no specific budget or dedicated staffing for the NSS, but the Namib Naukluft National Park receives an annual operational budget allocation equivalent to about US$ 850,000 and has a permanent staff of 26. Additional government funds may be allocated for capital expenditure within the park according to specific needs. Although this level of funding is barely adequate for a park of this size, it remains relatively stable and has been increased progressively (IUCN, 2013). According to the budget statement of the Ministry for Environment, Forestry and Tourism 2023/2024 (Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism, 2023), there has been an increase in the operational budget by 11% compared to the 2022/23 budget. Although this is noted as still being below the required budget to execute all operational programmes of the Ministry. 212,592,326 Namibian dollars is allocated to wildlife and protected area management. It is unclear how much has been allocated to the Namib-Naukluft National Park exactly.

Namib-Naukluft NP is managed from staff based at Sesriem (park headquarters), Ganab, Zais, Naukluft and Tsams West. Key deficiencies in the structure include the lack of an Environmental Management Unit, lacking coverage of the north-west part of the park, lacking of a wildlife protection unit, maintenance unit and a responsible officer for community based resource management. The Directorate of Wildlife and National Parks Management has only 26 staff (6 vacancies will be filled before end of 2024) whose responsibilities include conservation, monitoring and law enforcement (e.g. adherence to speed limits, control of off-road driving, flying heights, camping restrictions, waste management, etc.) and revenue collection. Due to this lack of staffing and appropriate equipment, many 4x4 convoys have not been accompanied by law-enforcement officials, raising the concern of unaccompanied tourism. Nevertheless, this concern has been addressed in the current management plan by reducing the 4x4 concessions from 7 to 3 (IUCN Consultation, 2024).

In the past, visitor guides and tour operators were poorly trained and often ignorant in specific aspects relating to the Namib Desert and the World Heritage Convention and its purpose (Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism, 2021). However, a key priority recently has been to ensure tour operators are trained to adhere to rules and regulations relating to the management plan and specifically biodiversity conservation and tourist behaviour. The Gobabeb – Namib Research Institute is the main partner organization offering training on the greater Namib Desert Biome and topical sustainable development issues.

In 2016, a law enforcement Training School was built at Waterberg Plateau Park, Namibia to cater for training needs for MEFT staff members as well as other ministries and private organizations that have interest in wildlife protection, particularly keystone species e.g. Rhinos. The school is also available for other training needs for MEFT staff members.

The establishment of a training centre (Escourt/Tsondab training centre) is foreseen in the next few years. The idea is that this should serve as a patrol camp and venue for training and environmental education and as a satellite research station for the Gobabeb Namib Research Institute (Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism, 2021).

Honorary Conservation Officers are trained and assist park staff to report illegal activities and apprehend offenders.

Further training is envisioned for determining necessary management actions and the collection of consistent monitoring data.

The two key educational partners are Gobabeb - The Namib Research Institute and the Namib Desert Environmental Education Trust (NaDEET). The Namib-Naukluft NP has a major environmental education output through the work of these two partner organizations. There is an environmental education centre located on the NamibRand Nature Reserve, where children and adults can learn about biodiversity and sustainable natural resource use.

There is a lack of visitor interpretation facilities. The harsh climate of the Namib desert reduces longevity of outdoor signage, however information on Namib Sand Sea is available at Sesriem at the Namib Wildlife Resorts, and a plaque about the NSS World Heritage Site has been placed to the entry to the site. Banners about the site are on the walls of the Headquarters of the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism and are also made available at tourism and public events (Report on the state of conservation NSS World Heritage Site 2015). The current management plan envisions a feasibility assessment for a new visitor interpretation facility to be carried out. The plan also states that it is important to ensure that all infrastructure designs and interpretation designs should follow specific infrastructure and interpretation design criteria so that there is a consistency in design and interpretation. In this regard, the Visibility and Information Dissemination Strategy for Namibia’s National Parks (MEFT, 2020) must be adhered to.

Gobabeb - The Namib Research Institute has initiated improved training of tour guides from the local Topnaar community and some hospitality centres and developed specific outreach programmes like indigenous people, schools and university students to increase knowledge and appreciation of the property (e.g. tour-guide training, training courses on World Heritage Site management). UNESCO and Namibia University of Science and Technology, in conjunction with Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism held training workshops: Tour Guides on tour guiding planning and management for Namib Naukluft National Staff members, Wardens, Rangers and Assistant Rangers (field going personnel). The current management plan also foresees implementing training courses for tour operators so that guides with access to the World Heritage site need to have passed the course to be able to operate within the site.

In 2023 after COVID-19, there were 198, 162 visitors to Sossusvlei heart of Namib Sand Sea. 2024 was promising regarding property visitation, as the visitor numbers are sharply increasing. There is a high possibility that the situation may normalize back to before COVID-19 pandemic. Supported by a network of approximately 60 tourism lodges on private land outside the property. The Directorate of Wildlife and National Parks Management has only 26 staff (6 vacancies will be filled before end of 2024) whose responsibilities include conservation, monitoring and law enforcement (e.g. adherence to speed limits, control of off-road driving, flying heights, camping restrictions, waste management, etc.) and revenue collection (IUCN Consultation, 2024). In addition to heavy daily visitor traffic to the Sossusvlei and Sandwich Harbour areas, there were 7 active 4x4 concessions which allow convoys of vehicles to make multi-day traverses of the NSS with overnight camping at stipulated sites. These convoys were rarely accompanied by law-enforcement officials due to lack of staffing and appropriate equipment and financial allocations, especially transport to cover such a vast area adequately. 4x4 concessions has been reduced to three to allow self-rehabilitation of the dunes and reduce pressure staff members are facing. There are plans for the introduction of new measures to address potential threats from increasing tourism through the introduction of daily visitor quotas to Sossusvlei and having stricter measures for tour operators (IUCN Consultation, 2020). Visitor interpretation facilities were established at Sesriem and Sossusvlei, information on NSS is available at Sesriem at the Namib Wildlife Resorts, a plaque about the NSS World Heritage Site has been placed to the entry of the site, banners about the site are on the walls of the Headquarters of the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism and are also made available at tourism and public events (Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism, 2021). A Tourism Development Plan for Namib Naukluft National Park was commissioned to enhance the identification, allocation, management and monitoring of tourism concessions (Namibia, 2015), but did not adequately explore options for optimising use but rather recommended diversification which would have further challenged adequate management. Despite the improvement in visitor facilities and management of tourism concessions there is need to monitor the impacts from tourism and introducing appropriate mitigation measures. Additional resources are needed to enhance management and enforce existing controls.

In 2021, with support from MEFT, the Topnaar community established the Topnaar Association, with the key objectives to: sensitize and unite the residents of the Namib Naukluft Park and Dorob National Park to protect the wildlife, the environment as a whole: and to derive benefits from the sustainable management and consumptive and non-consumptive utilization of the parks resources.

According to the current management plan (Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism, 2021) the Topnaar Association will in future be the holder of tourism concessions and the entity to enter into an agreement with MEFT that will provide security of tenure and rights and responsibilities of both parties regarding residence in and management of the park (as well as the relevant part of Dorob NP)

The key objective is to allow for sustainable use of natural resources as a wildlife management strategy in line with the National Policy on Utilization of Game in Protected Areas and Other State Land and the Nature Conservation Ordinance, 1975 (4 of 1975) as amended. This includes quotas for harvesting natural resources within park boundaries. All resource utilization in the park will be done in accordance with the National Policy on Utilization of Game in Protected Areas and other State Land and should be economically and ecologically sustainable. All resource utilization in the Lower Kuiseb Valley Managed Resource Use area will additionally be done in accordance with the agreed land use plan for that area and should be economically and ecologically sustainable. All harvesting must be cost effective and should consider the full costs of managing the resource, including the costs of control, monitoring and effects on the environment. The park may in principle be used as a source of wildlife for introduction to other areas if the relevant populations can sustain any removals.

The indigenous Topnaar community, now living in scattered settlements along the Kuiseb River, has used the land and resources of the NSS for centuries (IUCN, 2013). They are a nomadic people who have traditionally moved to new areas within their forbidding landscape as dictated by changing conditions and resource availability. Today, many of their traditions are being lost, and most of their settlements are occupied by the old and young, as most adults of working age opt for paid employment in nearby centres (Legal Assistance Centre, 2013). The traditional harvesting of !Nara fruit has been transformed into an open access system where everyone is in competition for the fruit due to commercialization, which causes distrust between members of this community and their traditional authority (Legal Assistance Centre, 2013).

Although participatory management arrangements with the Topnaar community have been put in place, the impact of commercialization of !Nara fruit needs to be monitored.

In 2022 the Spatial Monitoring and Reporting Tool (SMART) was successfully implemented in the Namib Naukluft National Park. NamParks V project, COVID-19 Fund and North Carolina Zoological Society oversaw rolling out of the SMART system. The park also implemented the Management Effectiveness Tracking Tool (METT), which is being mainstreamed as part of the MEFT monitoring system and conducted annually (IUCN Consultation, 2024).

Some monitoring of biophysical and ecological parameters (e.g. rainfall, temperature, humidity, fog, vegetation, invertebrate, mammal and bird populations) has been undertaken at the Gobabeb Training and Research Centre since 1962. However, processing of data to inform management planning and decision making has been sporadic and uncoordinated (NNCWH, 2012). The new agreement between MEFT and the Gobabeb-Namib Research Institute aims to strengthen the collaboration on research and will hopefully also improve the feedback from research into management activities and vice versa (Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism, 2021). The nomination dossier identifies 23 key indicators for measuring the state of conservation of the property, classified into management, human use, geographical and ecological indicator categories (State Party of Namibia, 2013). Short- and long-datasheets are archived at the Gobabeb-Namib Research Institute which is situated within the area and with its reputation on research and monitoring is ideal host for collating, curating, analysing and disseminating data and information from monitoring (Management Plan NSS World Heritage Site, 2014). Additionally, a specialized Environmental Management Unit will be established to strengthen capacity of park management in the monitoring, implementation and compliance with the Environmental Management Act, Act 7 of 2007. Monitoring framework and annual monitoring reports are being developed along with a long-term programme to monitor the key ecological indicators that affect the state of conservation of the site (Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism, 2021).

A large volume of work has been done on the climate and geomorphology of the Central Namib and the biogeography and biodiversity of the park. The park is in the privileged situation of containing one of the oldest research facilities in Namibia at Gobabeb, now known as the Namib Research Institute. In an era of high volumes of research being published but also much of it ending behind internet paywalls, without Gobabeb a great deal of research done in the Namib Desert would not be accessible to the park management staff. In this manner, the large reference collection in Gobabeb should be used to gain a deeper understanding of the macro and micro aspects of the environment and biodiversity of the park. An agreement between Gobabeb - Namib Research Institute and the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism has been established to facilitate collaboration on research. Especially for the monitoring of invasive alien plant species the research institute is of paramount importance. The Centre has established a unique record of fundamental research results spanning more than 50 years and providing extraordinary insights into the adaptations of plants and animals to life in the fog-desert and associated ecological processes. This portfolio of research results is unique at a global scale and the facilities at the Centre should ensure that this body of knowledge and information can be further developed and enhanced. The Centre is also spearheading the training of visitor guides and tour operators as well as the translation of research results into accessible information for the lay person. It is fundamental that research results inform management planning and guide the formulation of subsequent research.

Natural resources exploitation, invasive species, tourism, mining and water abstraction pose external threats to the property. There is limited management capacity to address threats arising outside the site, although some community outreach is undertaken to regulate use of key resources around the fringes of the property, particularly by the Topnaar communities living along the Kuiseb River. Alien plants are carried into the property by seasonal rivers and there is little capacity to control them either at source (outside the property) or within it. Self-regulation by established tourism operators visiting the site is largely effective, but there is nevertheless significant disturbance to some ‘visitor hotspots’ resulting from unregulated tourism activities. The Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism engages relevant ministries and other stakeholders over the issues of mining, tourism and water extraction through the Park Advisory Committee and therefore tries to manage the area using a more regional approach. In regard to natural resource use, the Topnaar Association is engaged in the park management activities and beyond the park boundaries, which helps to communicate the World Heritage values and the park conservation goals.

Although the World Heritage site is not being managed as a distinct unit, it benefits from being integrated within the broader Namib-Naukluft National Park management e.g. access to a large potential resource base, improved landscape connectivity, established collaboration mechanisms with government and other stakeholders, integrated decision-making processes. The current management plan also contains a chapter focussing solely on the World Heritage site.

Monitoring of the effectiveness of the management itself is an important component of the existing management plan (Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism, 2021). The aim is to ensure regular monitoring and data collection feeds into adaptive management and decision-making, using the National Guidelines for Monitoring for Management of Protected Areas in Namibia 2021. Standardised operating systems and procedures like inspection sheets and performance assessments along with the METT assessment are to be used. Park headquarter staff are to annually implement the METT assessment, however no report of such a recent assessment could be found.

The financial and human resources available for management have previously been insufficient to undertake the range of tasks required for effective management. Whilst most of the area is inaccessible and requires no management intervention, a need for additional resources to improve the effectiveness of tourism regulation, community outreach, visitor interpretation, ecological monitoring and alien plant control was identified in the nomination evaluation report for the site (IUCN, 2013). However, the new office, increase in staff numbers, development of an Advisory Committee and the Topnaar Association demonstrate positive developments to improve management effectiveness. Further important frameworks are the Land Use and Development Plan for the Kuiseb Valley Managed Resource Use zones of the Namib Naukluft and Dorob National Parks 2020 – 2029 (Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism, 2021b) and the National Policy on Protected Areas' Neighbours and Resident Communities (Ministry of Environment and Tourism, 2013a, b; Namibia, 2015), which provides guidelines on the involvement of neighbours and resident communities in protected area management and benefits thereof, while at the same time recognizing the need to promote biodiversity conservation.