Nature Conservation in Gondwana Cañon Park, Namibia Kieryn Graham Development Challenge Summer 2011

Namibia and Gondwana Cañon Park Gondwana Collection: Gondwana Kalahari, Sperrgebiet Rand, Namib and Cañon parks Gondwana’s philosophy: Tourism, nature and people Characterized by extremely delicate arid savannahs and desert Rich reptile fauna and high diversity of invertebrates Threats to fauna: Overgrazing (desertification) Land transformation -Four deserts overlap in Southern Namibia -Gondwana Canon Park was the first established -Without nature, no tourists; without tourists, no nature conservation and no jobs; without staff and the support of communities, no hospitality business and no game-keeping. -More income is generated with beds than with goats, more and better jobs are created, and much less of a strain is put on nature. -Land transformation by agriculture, mining, and development -Extreme water scarcity

Goals, fieldwork and projects undertaken Park Monitoring and Research: General monitoring – camera-traps, event-book records, climate monitoring Annual game count Monitoring of reintroduced Black Rhinos Leopard monitoring and research Birding Park Management and Maintenance: Boundaries and fences Game count routes Waterholes -Camera-trap set-up, maintenance and data analysis (baboon and rhino-proofing); rain gauges -Elaborate on my leopard research and results to date

Skills developed Field techniques: Camera traps Game count techniques Tracking techniques and identification of spoor Techniques for analyzing data: GIS modeling and mapping technology StripeSpotter

Conclusions Future leopard research Tourism, nature and people Nature conservation in Namibia: Open Systems Conservancies Future leopard research Tourism, nature and people