The Orupupa, Okangundumba and Ozondundu Conservancies are part of the more expansive Kunene Highlands ecosystem that forms part of the extensive, connected and open conservation landscape stretching from Etosha National Park in the east to the Skeleton Coast National Park in the west. These three Conservancies are located on the eastern end of this conservation complex and represent a keystone block for connectivity.
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To secure the ecological integrity of the landscape such that it acts as a perpetual and healthy reservoir of ecological goods and services. We are determined to resolve human-elephant conflict and to unlock a nature-based economy that provides a wider diversity of livelihood opportunities. We are investing in education and skills development so the people of the area are suitably capacitated to oversee and run all aspects of the operations. We also aim to expand our reach to neighbouring conservancies who wish to contract our services so that the benefits of improved management and human capital development can be realised at a landscape-scale.
Each of the three Conservancies falls under the jurisdiction of their Community Conservancy Association. It is through the authority of each Association that Conserve has concluded a 25-year service level agreement to provide a conservation development, financing and management service to the Association and its people. For each Conservancy, we have established a Joint Management Committee to act as the platform for ongoing engagement and collective decision-making between Conserve and the Conservancies.
Generally, the Kunene highlands are home to low-density settlements scattered across the landscape in a pattern that closely follows availability of year-round water provision. There are several secondary roads that bisect the landscape and ribbon development along these roads is evident. Villages are scattered across the Conservancies, all located near natural springs. The largest village, Ekoto, is home to only 100 people and many of the other villages represent extended family homesteads. Dependency on ecosystem provisioning is high, verging on absolute. Human impact in the landscape is mostly limited although overgrazing by livestock is a growing problem, with severe degradation evident in certain places. This is a landscape where people and wildlife have largely co-existed mostly in harmony for centuries. The Kunene Highlands are populated predominantly by people of the Herero language and culture but Himba people are also present.
The Kunene Highlands fall at the intersection of three ecoregions. These include the Zambezian, Kalahari-Highveld and Namib Karoo ecoregions. It is an arid environment that receives less than 150 mm of rain per year, and it is situated predominantly in the “Grassland with Trees” biome, interspersed with occasional “Woodland”. The Kunene Highlands contain several spectacular landscape features, most notably some incredibly impressive Tufa cliffs. Tufa is a variety of limestone formed when carbonate minerals precipitate out of water and a Tufa cliff is formed whenever calcium carbonate-saturated waters pour over a cliff, or emerge from a spring, releasing carbon dioxide and precipitating a porous calcium carbonate. The Tufa Cliff at Ekoto in Orupupa is a sight to behold. When standing at its base, this towering structure feels like a living organism of the Tolkien type. The cliff is literally heaving with rosy-faced lovebirds who find shelter in its porous structure. The unique geology of the area has also led to the creation of several little known but truly spectacular cave formations that warrant greater exploration. There is also a steep waterfall pockmarked by San rock art and legend has it that elephants slide down this waterfall as the path of least resistance from the Upper Plateau to the floor of the so-called Forgotten Valley. This is a landscape of delights and wonders that are gradually revealed to those who are patient and deserving.
The Highlands support a free roaming population of elephants estimated to number around 500. Leopards continue to stalk the crags and gulleys, and giraffe, black-faced impala, kudu, springbok and zebra all call this rugged mountainous landscape home. The birdlife is simply astounding. Being an arid environment, mammal populations naturally occur at low densities.
The three Conservancies remain ecologically intact but, in the absence of intervention, will witness a steady demise of certain key ecological attributes. As an arid environment, the landscape is especially vulnerable to transformation, erosion and over-utilisation. Threats are limited but include some poaching for protein and rangeland degradation through unmanaged livestock grazing. Human-elephant conflict is an ever-present challenge around water and vegetable gardens. Rural households are overwhelmingly reliant on the collection of dead branches for firewood as a domestic cooking fuel, but deforestation is not extensive.
I am amazed by the progress being made here in Ekoto, I always knew Ekoto was different from other villages. But what is happening now is beyond my imagination. For me to see this in my lifetime is wonderful. The young people are employed and the structures are almost done. Kunene Conservation has done a great job in Ekoto and Orupupa Conservancy. It’s beyond our wildest dreams and we thank God.
CHIEF KAPARA KAPARA | CHIEF OF EKOTO VILLAGE
Conserve Global is a registered charity in England and Wales no 1195017 | registered company no 12705139 | 101 New Cavendish Street, 1st Floor South, London, W1W 6XH, United Kingdom