Gobabeb Research & Training Centre

Gobabeb has a modest but valuable herbarium, consisting of material collected over five decades of botanical exploration in the station surrounds, and elsewhere in Namibia. This collection has, however, been dormant for several years. Staff of the National Herbarium of Namibia (WIND), within the National Botanical Research Institute, recently assisted Gobabeb to resurrect the Centre's herbarium.

The Environmental Investment Fund recently announced its grant recipients for 2013. These grants, totalling almost N$4 million, were recently handed over to twelve recipient organisations by the Minister of Environment and Tourism (MET), Mr Uahekua Herunga. Gobabeb received a grant for the project: "Sanitation and Waste Management – critical thinking in the Sossusvlei-Namib landscape".

The first report of the Strategic Environmental Management Plan for the Uranium Rush (SEMP) has been published. The report summarizes progress and changes in 120 indicators of 12 environmental quality objectives. The overall assessment is positive, with progress having been made in most aspects, but a few need further attention. For more information, click here to download the report.

The sixth SEMP steering committee meeting for 2013 will be held on 03 April at the Uranium Institute. 

Workshop on the rehabilitation of impact scars (vehicle tracks and laydown areas) in the Namib

The gravel plains of the central Namib are sensitive ecosystems that have been exposed to human disturbance since before the First World War. These disturbances have been increasing in intensity over the last few decades, mostly as a result of recreational off-road driving, exploration and prospecting activities. More recently, increases in exploration drilling for uranium, mining and filming activities, mostly occurring in Protected Areas, have brought the issue of ecological rehabilitation of these surface scars into sharp focus.