NamibRand Nature Reserve Namibia

Africa’s Largest Private Nature Reserves

Africa’s largest private nature reserves, Namibia’s NamibRand Nature Reserve is located in one of the naturally darkest places on Earth. It had been established to support protection and conserve the unique ecology as well as wildlife of the southwest Namib Desert. Conserving the pro-Namib, the area along the eastern edge of the Namib Desert seems to be important to facilitate season migratory wildlife routes as well as to protect biodiversity.

It is possibly the largest private nature reserve in Southern Africa that extends over an area of 202,200 ha. The Reserve tends to share a 100 km border with the Namib-Naukluft National Park towards the west and is bordered in the east by the imposing Nubib Mountains. Almost all the features of the Namib Desert are represented on the Reserve, namely sand and gravel plains with stretches of savanna alternating with mountain ranges together with vegetated dune belts. Its mission comprises of preservation of the area’s starry night skies.

The central of the reserve is the Namib Desert Environmental Education Trust – NaDEET Centre that runs environmental education programs teaching about the Earth and sky. Overnight visitors, generally groups of school children tend to have the opportunity of sleeping in the `open air’ units where they can view the night sky from the comfort of their beds.

NaDEET Centre’s Programs

The NaDEET Centre’s programs are available to all Namibians as well as visitors from across the globe. The NamibRand Nature Reserve, in Southern Africa, is a model for reserved conservation since it exhibits holistic biodiversity conservation balanced with financial sustainability.Low effect ecotourism is a means towards supporting the conservation efforts through park fees.

The five tourism concessions awarded by the reserve, each pay per bed fee to the Reserve and the funds gained through these park fees helps in sustaining the Reserve, financially. The Reserve is said to be initiated in 1984 as a dream of J. A. Bruckner to expand desert frontiers by assimilating a huge number of former livestock farms and creating a wildlife sanctuary. Presently thirteen former livestock farms are reformed in an individual continuous natural environment.

Non-profit Private Nature Reserve

The NamibRand Nature Reserve had been registered as a non-profit private nature reserve in 1992. The landowners which belonged to the Reserve had signed agreements and had adopted a constitution setting the land aside for conservation, now and in the future. The Reserve seems to be financially self-sustaining due to the high quality, low impact tourism.

The NamibRand Nature Reserve is said to be a member of the Greater Sossuviei Landscape Association – GSNL. The Association’s vision is to collaboratively manage the Greater Sossusvlei-Namib Landscape to enhance the landscape and biodiversity conservation as well as the socio-economic development for the continuous benefit of the people in the Landscape and the Region.

Visitors can undertake a full day drive and explore the various parts of the reserve. Choices of properties are also available on the NamibRand and two or three days night stay would be perfect.The private reserve has been named recently as Africa’s first international Dark Sky Reserve which means that it is one of the least light polluted spaces in the world.