News & Events

Course Length: Nine weeks 
Date: 20 January 2025 - 25 March 2025 
Delivery Mode: Online 
Instruction: Facilitator-led Short Course 
Registration Due Date: 18 November 2024 - 06 December 2024 
Investment: N$ 3701 - 00

Target Audience

Managers and supervisors in tourism and other operations. 
 

Criteria for Admission

Experience in tourism and hospitality management and/or an interest in sustainable tourism 
management.

Purpose

The current global trends in tourism emphasize sustainable practices at destinations as part of contributing to building tourism destination resilience. As a precondition for success, all stakeholders need to be involved and benefit from tourism by considering the environment, residents/hosts, tourist travellers, and the local community at their tourism destination. 

This professional development course is developed to enable tourism and non-tourism operators to acquire knowledge and skills on how to manage tourism and non-tourism establishments (or organisations) in an environmentally sustainable manner.

The course will support participants to appreciate and implement context-based best practices in Namibia as a tourism destination and beyond.

Learning Content

• Environmentally sustainable tourism and management processes.
• The evolution, impacts and mitigations of human-wildlife conflicts in Namibia.
• Environmental Clearance Certificate (ECC).
• The CBNRM program in Namibia.
• Monitoring and reducing the consumption of non-renewable natural resources.
• Types of waste, how to separate recyclables and reduce volumes of waste.
• Applying social responsibility activities in an organisation.
• Social responsibility activities: Critical success factors and resilience against disasters.

For any inquiries and registration, please contact:

Ms. Mary Ellen Kimaro, Tel: 0812443188 | Email: SCCESTM@unam.edu.na 
Ms. Hazel Milne, Tel: 0811285105 | Email: admin@ecoawards-namibia.org 
Mr. Jona Heita, Tel: 0814642798| Email: jheita@unam.na

» Download more info here.

Sustainable tourism in Namibia is being celebrated once again!

14 Sustainable Tourism Awards Certificates were handed over during the recent Travel Namibia Festival at Droombos in Windhoek. The theme of the event was Conscious Travel, which tied in perfectly with the establishments being awarded for their efforts in Sustainable Tourism.

The levels of the awards achieved this year, following sustainability assessments, were extraordinarily high – ranging between Four-, Five- and Five Green Flowers!

Twenty-two certificates were awarded at the Tourism Expo held in November. Eight of these were for the highest award catgory: the Five Green Flowers category gives special recognition to establishments who scored 5 flowers overall, and in addition, scored 90% or more for the environmental criteria sections i.e. Water, Energy, Waste Management and Conservation.

Eco Awards recipients were awarded their certificates in June 2019 at the Hospitality Association of Namibia event.

Photo: Lara Potma of Pack Safari, and Jason Nangolo representing Wolwedans.

The winners of the 2019 Responsible Tourism Awards (RTA) were announced at the Namibia Tourism Expo yesterday.

In the category for accommodation establishments Wolwedans Collection (Dune Camp) walked away as the winner while the runners-up were Wilderness Safaris Desert Rhino Camp and Gondwana Kalahari Anib Lodge.

Wolwedans Dune Camp provides the perfect base from which to explore vast stretches of pristine nature where guests can encounter small and large desert dwellers, intriguing flora and fascinating geology. The charm of the camp lies in its tranquil, intimate atmosphere, capturing the romance of a bygone era. During its most recent sustainability assessment by Eco Awards Namibia, Wolwedans Dune Camp scored very well – achieving full marks in the sections for Management, Conservation, Energy and Guiding – over 90% overall.

In the category for tour operators the winner was Pack Safari while the runners-up were Sense of Africa (Tourvest) and Wild Dog Safaris. Pack Safari is an established, reputable Namibian inbound tour operator with extensive experience and broad knowledge of Southern Africa. Pack Safari designs superior tours, incorporating the most inspirational places, nature and cultures that Southern Africa has to offer. Although Namibia is the heart of their operation, their expertise and passion extends past Namibia’s borders, into South Africa, Zimbabwe and Botswana. The combination of their love for places and people, and their keen dedication to unsurpassed service, ensures that each tour is unique and extraordinary. During the recent sustainability assessment by Eco Awards Namibia, Pack Safari achieved an excellent score against internationally benchmarked criteria.

The Responsible Tourism Awards, initiated by Namibia Media Holdings (NMH), aim to acknowledge and reward tourism operators in accommodation establishments who practise ecotourism in their operations as well as those who invest in the communities where they operate. The awards are linked to the Namibia Tourism Expo, an annual event which brings together tourism operators from Namibia and neighbouring countries to network and market their products and services.

Text from https://www.namibiansun.com/news/rta-winners-announced-2019-06-05

Namibia Media Holdings (NMH) on the 1st of March Friday announced the finalists for the 2019 Responsible Tourism Awards (RTA) which showcase some of Namibia's top tourism establishments and operators.

The awards aim to acknowledge and reward tourism businesses who practice ecotourism in their operations as well as those who invest in the communities where they operate. The finalists all achieved top marks in the most recent Eco-Awards Assessments, especially in their waste management and recycling scores. The awards are divided into two categories, namely Accommodation Establishments and Tour Operators. The three accommodation establishment finalists are, in random order, Wolwedans Collection's Dune Camp, Wilderness Safaris' Desert Rhino Camp and the Gondwana Kalahari Anib Lodge. Pack Safari, Sense of Africa (Tourvest) and Wild Dog Safaris are the three finalists for the RTA's Tour Operator category.

The awards, initiated by NMH and assisted by Eco-Awards Namibia, are linked to the Namibia Tourism Expo (NTE), an annual event which brings together tourism operators from Namibia and neighboring countries to network and market their products and services. The RTA winners of each category will be selected during a more complex assessment process focusing on the theme of this year's NTE, namely Recycling – Think Sustainability.

The winners will be announced at the official opening of the Namibia Tourism Expo that will take place at the Windhoek show grounds on 5 June 2019.

Text from https://www.eif.org.na/post/nmh-announces-2019-rta-finalists

Photos by (top) Wiebke Schmidt; (bottom) Tanja Bause

During 2018, the Management Committee of Eco Awards Namibia discussed the fact that there were already over 30 Tourism Establishments which had achieved the 5 Flower Award. Following the latest criteria update, we realised that it became possible to achieve 5 flowers by doing well in criteria sections across the board, without excelling in the environmental criteria sections.

We decided that we want to give special recognition to those establishments, which, on top of achieving an overall 5 Flower award, also excel in the environmental criteria sections, namely Energy, Water, Conservation and Waste Management. The Green Five Flower Award was thus created and is only being awarded to Tourism Establishments that achieve 90% or more average in the combined 4 Environmental Criteria Sections.

The first Green 5 Flower Certificates were awarded in June 2018, to four Wolwedans establishments: Boulders Safari Camp, Dune Camp, Dunes Lodge, Private Camp.

Eco Awards recipients were awarded their certificates at the HAN Gala function held on Friday 22 June 2018.

From left to right: Mare Steenekamp from FNB (Eco Awards Sponsor); Hazel Milne – Program Coordinator; Claire Gall - Chameleon Backpackers and Guesthouse; Thalita Horn – NWR Sossus Dune Lodge; Thomas Skrywer – NWR Duwisib Castle; Jesaja Kohima – NWR Namib Naukluft Lodge; Ulf Grunewald on behalf of Buellsport Guest Farm; Rainholdt Stanley – Gondwana Anib Lodge and Damara Mopane Lodge; Jason Nangolo Wolwedans Collection.

As Namibia is celebrating its 28th year of Independence, herewith a reminder that this week is dedicated to another major milestone, with the 22nd of March commemorated as World Water Day for the 25th time.

Water, as most Namibians are aware, is one of our most valuable natural resources, and while some of our regions are currently suffering flash floods and washed-away roads, Namibia's South is suffering what seems to be the worst drought in decades, with even the businesses along the banks of the now fickle Orange River called upon to save water.

Unfortunately, being part of the ‘consumer generation’ we keep on producing waste, much of it being discarded carelessly at dumpsites, from where it could end up in riverbeds, rivers, and oceans.

As part of our joint campaign of a "Cleaner Namibia", by joining hands and linking brands, Eco Awards Alliance, HAN and the Recycle Namibia Forum is working on a number of exciting projects at the moment, and befitting to the events of this week, celebrating our beautiful country and its Independence, as well as World Water Day, we decided to give you a glimpse of a campaign to be launched next week….:

May this small message make a big influence on the use of plastic straws… one of the standard,  but often superfluous items on the tables at cafes, restaurants and hotels. Apply your mind and join us to REDUCE, RE-USE and RECYCLE, where ever possible.

Some general information on World Water Day:
World Water Day, on 22 March every year, is about focusing attention on the importance of water. The theme for World Water Day 2018 is ‘Nature for Water’ – exploring nature-based solutions to the water challenges we face in the 21^st century. Damaged ecosystems affect the quantity and quality of water available for human consumption. Today, 2.1 billion people live without safe drinking water at home; affecting their health, education and livelihoods.

Sustainable Development Goal 6 commits the world to ensuring that everyone has access to safe water by 2030, and includes targets on protecting the natural environment and reducing pollution.

Take action today - Wherever you are and whatever you do on March 22, make it about nature and water.

• Every drop of water is on an endless journey through the sky, the soil and streams…through our lives…and back into nature.
• In many places, our environment is damaged, leaving us with polluted water or no water at all.
• Nature is green infrastructure. A system supplying us with the water we need to survive and thrive.
• Healthy forests and fields prevent soil and chemicals being washed into rivers.
• Lakes, wetlands and floodplains store, purify and control water.
• This World Water Day, explore nature-based solutions to our water challenges.
• World Water Day 2018 – The answer is in nature.

May we call on all of you to join hands to act and operate more consciously, by keeping the aim of a "Cleaner Namibia" in mind.
Small things do matter, (as per the motto of this year's Tourism Expo coming up at the end of May), - and amending your practices by reducing the use of plastic straws for instance, - could go a long way in preserving the rivers and oceans!

JOINING HANDS & LINKING BRANDS… For a cleaner Namibia 2018!!

“Congratulations!! You scored 5 Eco flowers (92%)!!” Gondwana’s environmental officer, Quintin Hartung, who accompanied the Eco Awards Namibia inspectors to Kalahari Anib Lodge in late November 2017, rejoiced with the lodge management and staff at the fantastic score.

The five desert flowers for Kalahari Anib Lodge represent a high score in terms of among others conservation and guiding, waste, pollution and sewer, staff and health, legal and NTB compliance, management, building and landscaping and social responsibility. Furthermore they are a tremendous improvement on the two desert flowers awarded in 2014. Special attention was given to environmental protection and design during the extensive construction and renovation work at Kalahari Anib Lodge in 2016. With success.

Similar to the star-rating system for tourist accommodation, the environmental initiative awards up to five flowers for sustainability. Participation in the Eco Awards is voluntary. Lodges that register for evaluation receive an extensive catalogue of possible measures for introducing eco-friendly ways to their operations. Participants are free to decide which steps they want to take. An independent evaluator inspects the lodges and sends his report to the panel who then decides on the evaluation.

Source: www.gondwana-collection.com/news/article/2018/02/21/excellent-eco-awards-assessment-for-kalahari-anib-lodge