Strategies to manage human activity in deserts 2

[2] Namibrand Nature Reserve The NamibRand Nature Reserve is a private nature reserve in South-western Namibia on the Namib Desert. Before becoming a nature reserve, this was a number of separate farms formed in the 1950s to eke out an existence farming in the desert. Several severe drought years in the 1980s demonstrated that farming domestic stock here just wasn't viable. There were allegations of farmers opening their fences to game from the Namib-Naukluft National Park, only to kill the animals for their meat once they left the park. Game was the only option, and this survived well on the farm Gorrasis, owned by Albi Brückner (a businessman, rather than a farmer, who'd bought the farm for its landscapes). In 1988 Brückner bought out two neighbouring farms, Die Duine and Stellarine, and gradually the reserve was broadened from that base. Now various shareholders have contributed money to the reserve, and different operators hold 'concession' areas which they utilise for tourism. The reserve covers about 2,100km 2, an area equivalent to about half the size of Belgium, the NamibRand Nature Reserve is one of the largest private reserves in Africa. and shares a 100 km border with Namib-Naukluft National Park to the west and the Nubib mountains to the east. It is financially self- sustaining mainly through low impact tourism fees. There are a wide variety of different desert landscapes and environments within this, from huge red sand-dunes to vegetated inter-dune valleys, sand and gravel plains, and some particularly imposing mountains. It's a spectacular area of desert.

Namibrand Game Reserve *former sheep farm located on edge of Namib Desert, initially diversified to game farm *farmer (Albi Bruckner) bought out neighbourhood farms to create private game reserve of 2100km² *farm building developed as game lodges via concessions *exclusive safari holidays including balloon safaris *fences removed to allow free movement of game * many bird and animal species recorded *because it is privately owned national and government bodies cannot use it as part of a national strategy