Republic of Namibia Ministry of Environment & Tourism STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT OF THE TOURISM SECTOR FOR THE GREATER SOSSUSVLEI – NAMIB LANDSCAPE 2014 Strategic Environmental Assessment (Sea) Of The Tourism Sector For 2 GREATER SOSSUSVLEI – NAMIB LANDSCAPE Republic of Namibia Ministry of Environment & Tourism STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT OF THE TOURISM SECTOR FOR THE GREATER SOSSUSVLEI – NAMIB LANDSCAPE 2014 ASSESMENT DONE BY: Southern African Institute for Environmental Assessment P O Box 6322, Windhoek, Namibia 31 March 2014 COVER PHOTO BY: Namibia Protected Landscape Conservation Areas Initiative (NAM-PLACE) The Namibia Protected Landscape Conservation Areas Initiative (NAM-PLACE) is a five year project established by The Ministry of Environment and Tourism (MET), with co-financing from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as the Implementing Agency. Strategic Environmental Assessment (Sea) Of The Tourism Sector For GREATER SOSSUSVLEI – NAMIB LANDSCAPE 3 Strategic Environmental Assessment (Sea) Of The Tourism Sector For 4 GREATER SOSSUSVLEI – NAMIB LANDSCAPE CONTENTS LIST OF ACRONYMS 7 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 8 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 10 1.1 Introduction 10 CHAPTER 2 VISION AND OBJECTIVES OF THE WINDHOEK GREEN-BELT LANDSCAPE 11 2.1 The Vision of the Windhoek Green Belt Landscape 11 2.2 Alignment of the Windhoek Green Belt Landscape ... International Policy Framework 11 2.3 The Objectives of the Strategic Environmental Assessment 13 2.4 The Terms of Reference for the Strategic Environmental Assessment 13 CHAPTER 3 BASELINE AND CONTEXT 14 3.1 Introduction 14 3.2 Location of the Windhoek Green-Belt Landscape 14 3.3 Climate 17 3.4 Geology and topography 17 3.5 Fauna 17 3.6 Flora 19 3.7 Groundwater availability 21 3.8 Land uses 22 3.9 Sources of income 23 3.10 Threats to biodiversity and sustainability of the WGBL 23 CHAPTER 4 METHODOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK AND APPROACH 26 4.1 Introduction 26 4.2 Task 1: Literature Review 26 4.3 Task 2: Scoping 27 4.4 Task 3: Development Of Analytical Framework 27 4.5 Task 4: Consultation 27 4.6 Task 5: Impact Assessment 28 CHAPTER 5 FORMULATION OF TOURISM DEVELOPMENT SCENARIOS 29 5.1 Introduction 29 5.2 Support services in WGBL 29 5.2.1 Challenges in Support services 29 5.2.1 Education, social amenities and infrastructure 29 5.3 Assessment of Product identification and development 30 5.3.1 Product Identification 30 5.3.2 Product Development 31 5.4 Economic Evaluation of the Different Tourism Development Scenarios 33 i Assumptions for livestock production: 33 Strategic Environmental Assessment (Sea) Of The Tourism Sector For GREATER SOSSUSVLEI – NAMIB LANDSCAPE 5 ii Assumption for tourism: 33 5.4.1 Livestock enterprise 33 5.4.2 Tourism Development – Business as Usual Scenario 34 5.4.3 Low to Medium Tourism Activity Diversification strategies 37 5.4.4 Tourism Activity High Diversification strategies Scenario 39 5.5 Economic Assessment 40 5.5.1 WGBL Contribution to the National income 40 5.5.2 Multiplier effect: Under different product implementations strategies 40 CHAPTER 6 ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT QUANTIFICATION UNDER TOURISM DEVELOPMENT SCENARIOS 44 6.1 Introduction 42 6.2 Environmental Impact Quantification Under Different Tourism Development Scenarios 42 6.2.1 Impacts identification of the different tourist visitor growth scenarios 42 6.2.1.1 Impact on Water Resource usage 42 6.2.1.2 Solid waste 43 6.3 Impacts on the landscape and habitats 44 6.4 Prediction of the impacts of envisaged plans, policy and programmes 45 CHAPTER 7 STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT PLAN 46 7.1 Introduction 46 7.2 Mitigation Measures 46 7.3 STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT PLAN 47 References 50 Appendix A: Enterprise budget for livestock farming: used on the report (based on 700 cattle, equivalent to the 7000ha capacity) 51 Appendix B: Enterprise budget for livestock farming: used on the report (based on 1000 cattle, equivalent to the 10000ha capacity) 52 Strategic Environmental Assessment (Sea) Of The Tourism Sector For 6 GREATER SOSSUSVLEI – NAMIB LANDSCAPE LIST OF ACRONYMS ATTA Adventure Travel Trade Association DWA Department of Water Affairs, MAWF EIA Environmental Impact Assessment EMA Environmental Management Act EPL Exclusive Prospecting Licence GDP Gross Domestic Product GIS Geographic Information System GSVNL Greater Sossusvlei Namib Landscape ha Hectare HAN Hospitality Association of Namibia km Kilometre kV Kilovolt m Metre ML Mining Licence mm Millimetre MAWF Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry MET Ministry of Environment and Tourism MLR Ministry of Lands and Resettlement MME Ministry of Mines and Energy MWTC Ministry of Works, Transport and Communication N North Nacoma Namibian Coastal Management project NDP National Development Plan NNP Namib Naukluft Park NPC National Planning Commission NTB Namibia Tourism Board NWR Namibia Wildlife Resorts S South SEA Strategic Environmental Assessment SAIEA Southern African Institute for Environmental Assessment TFCA Transfrontier Conservation Area UNESCO United Nations Education, Science and Culture Organisation Strategic Environmental Assessment (Sea) Of The Tourism Sector For GREATER SOSSUSVLEI – NAMIB LANDSCAPE 7 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) of the tourism sector in the Greater Sossusvlei-Namib Landscape Area (GSNLA) has two main objectives: • To help achieve a strong and sustainable tourism industry in the landscape, which contributes to improving human quality of life on sustainable principles; • To support the development plan of the landscape and inform future decision-making in and around the tourism sector. Growth of the tourism sector in the GSNLA is embedded in the overall framework of policies and plans for the country and the Ministry of Environment and Tourism (MET). These are mostly supportive of the co-management approach underlying NamPlace. Projects (e.g. developing the area as a World Heritage site, maintaining International Dark Sky Reserve status) are in line with the NamPlace intention to optimise the tourism and wildlife sector. A possible conflict with the tourism sector is mineral prospecting and mining. The Vision described for the tourism sector in the Greater Sossusvlei-Namib Landscape Area focuses on two main themes: 1. To optimise wildlife and tourism as a land use, through collaborative stakeholder engagement. 2. To create an enabling environment for growth of the tourism sector, and keep the sector competitive. Contiguous land within the Landscape Area that is ‘fence-free,’ either through active removal of fences or by passively allowing breaks to remain open, now amounts to 52% of the Landscape Area. The other main land use in this area, commercial livestock production, compares very poorly to wildlife and tourism land use in terms of its contributions to private profitability, national income, employment and local community livelihoods. The net national income contribution per hectare is estimated at N$55 for tourism, which is 14 times higher than that for livestock at N$4. This finding reflects the arid environment on the extreme edge of potential for livestock production, combined with the presence of attractive and iconic tourism attributes. Relatively small and strategic investments can yield significant returns. Tourism statistics show that ‘the South’ attracts about 20% of all visitors to Namibia, compared to 53% for Etosha. Lodges and tented lodges are the most popular tourism accommodation, targeting mid-market tourists who travel mostly as ‘self-drives’. The average occupancy rate for tourism establishments is quite low at 24% for Hardap Region. Overall, there are sufficient beds in the landscape area to service the current tourist numbers and the desired growth in the tourism industry, and the level of satisfaction with what there is is high. The area needs to diversify the attractions and activities on offer to make visitors stay longer than the present average of just under two nights. Current activities emphasise landscape viewing with other options such as horse riding, ballooning, scenic air flights, hiking, 4x4 trails and mountain biking. The desired high growth scenario includes the suggestions from the recently completed Tourism Development Plan for the Namib Naukluft Park, and foresees the following situation for Namibia: • Tourist arrivals to Namibia grow substantially, led by an active marketing strategy; • Other government ministries recognise the value of this sector and support its growth and expansion; • Facilities cater for a wide range of tourist types (e.g. young ‘adventurers’, self-drives and bus tourists, business travellers); Strategic Environmental Assessment (Sea) Of The Tourism Sector For 8 GREATER SOSSUSVLEI – NAMIB LANDSCAPE • Information readily available at all entry points and at all major attractions, describing the county’s conservation successes and attractions, in a wide range of media types (videos, CDs, cam-feeds, brochures, booklets, ..) • Well maintained road infrastructure and flight facilities, making travelling into and within Namibia easy, safe and comfortable. The high growth scenario envisages the following features in the Sossusvlei-Namib landscape: • Sossusvlei is an iconic destination and is complemented with other attractions in the Namib Sand Sea, in keeping with its status as a World Heritage Site; • Diverse activities are on offer for a full ‘desert experience’ which serves to hold tourists in the area for more than two-three days on average; • A solar-powered