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Communities can actually play important roles in the environment.
Topnaars clean up their river
ELMA ROBBERTS
THE Topnaar Community, together with the Gobabeb Training and Research Centre (GTRC), conducted a clean-up campaign along the Kuiseb River and the main road connecting the settlements at Rooibank and Homeb.
Emily Mutota of the GTRC said the project would hopefully inspire communities in other parts of the country to organise similar clean-ups.
It had also encouraged bonding and co-operation between the Topnaars and their neighbours on protecting their shared environment.
The campaign is an important activity that fits into the goals of the United Nations International Year of Deserts and Desertification, Mutota said.
In terms of land degradation, littering did not top the list of environmental hazards, but it could affect wildlife, she said.
Eco-tourism, for which the desert area holds great potential, was also negatively affected by unsightly waste.
The Topnaar people have been able to survive in the desert environment for more than 7 000 years because of the river.
The Kuiseb is one of the few ephemeral rivers in the Namib Desert, flowing from the Khomas highlands around Windhoek across the central Namib Desert.
This linear oasis is a keystone feature in the Namib Desert and acts as a source of underground water for the Topnaars and the Gobabeb Centre.
Source: The Namibian
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I live in the Kuiseb and has been driving on this road for so many years. being one of the pioneers in getting this road re proclaimed to serve the
community along the river I am disappointed by the misleading article. judging from the writers impression they succeeded in their goal . The widely proclaimed clean up operation is rising eye brows in the community, as people asked which community members were invited to participate and
when. As one men said we don't get the Namib Times in the Kuiseb how are we to know about this activity.
The questions asked are which community members took part in the operation? which part of the Kuiseb River as claimed was cleaned and what happened to the 'tonnes' of rubbish? Because as far as we know only one Izuzu pick up vehicle was used.
The clean up vehicle traveled from Homeb to Swartbank on the first of February 2007 with two men picking up empty bottles along the road,
returning around noon to Gobabeb where we assume the picture was taken. However in the local news paper The Namib Times it was stated the clean up
operation would be done over 4 or 5 days, starting on the 1st of February 2007 from Rooibank up to Swartbank a distance of roughly 25km and would take 2 days to clean.
The second phase would start at Swartbank on the 3rd of February 2007 ending at Homeb on the 4th of February 2007 an estimated distance of 55km.
However the clean up vehicle arrived at Swartbank From Homeb in the morning and returned on the same route it came. This was the only time this vehicle was seen. What happenned to the other participants such as the GTRC?
In the beginning of January 2007 another clean up operation was organized, sponsored by a local ngo in Walvis Bay. However, this operation again by the chief and his 2 farm care takers ended at Swartbank, raising questions within the community as it was said the contract to cl;ean was given to the chief. For the record the GTRC was not mentioned in this first operation.
What we would like to point out is the misleading nature of article in the news papers..
Picking up a few bottles does not justify the impression created, while in reality the real rubbish are still laying around. I would want to know whether the person who submitted the article in the first place inspected the cleansed area before writing the contribution. Settlement areas along the road are still a sore for the eye. I fail to understand why the organizers avoided contact with the people at the settlements and instead opted for passing on the road while people were watching and wondering. What will follow is the aged excuse of people not being interested to
participate. This time we know the community is not at fault.
I wish to advise the GTRC and the Chief to come clean with the community and to stop misleading the general public the government as well as donors or funding agencies.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Raili Hasheela" <raili@ecoafrica.co.za>
To: "General Discussion" <discuss@dlist-benguela.org>
Sent: Tuesday, February 20, 2007 9:58 AM
Subject: [DLIST Discuss] Topnaars clean up their river
> Communities can actually play important roles in the environment.
>
> Topnaars clean up their river
>
> ELMA ROBBERTS
>
> THE Topnaar Community, together with the Gobabeb Training and Research Centre (GTRC), conducted a clean-up campaign along the Kuiseb River and the
main road connecting the settlements at Rooibank and Homeb.
>
> Emily Mutota of the GTRC said the project would hopefully inspire communities in other parts of the country to organise similar clean-ups.
>
> It had also encouraged bonding and co-operation between the Topnaars and their neighbours on protecting their shared environment.
>
> The campaign is an important activity that fits into the goals of the United Nations International Year of Deserts and Desertification, Mutota
said.
>
> In terms of land degradation, littering did not top the list of environmental hazards, but it could affect wildlife, she said.
>
> Eco-tourism, for which the desert area holds great potential, was also negatively affected by unsightly waste.
>
> The Topnaar people have been able to survive in the desert environment for more than 7 000 years because of the river.
>
> The Kuiseb is one of the few ephemeral rivers in the Namib Desert, flowing from the Khomas highlands around Windhoek across the central Namib Desert.
>
> This linear oasis is a keystone feature in the Namib Desert and acts as a source of underground water for the Topnaars and the Gobabeb Centre.
>
> Source: The Namibian
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