namibia tourism concessions peter john massyn
DESCRIPTION
This presentation by Peter John Massyn was delivered at the 'Concessioning tourism opportunities in conservation areas and maximising rural development' workshop, held in Maputo between 19-22 March 2012 (Day 1, Session 2, Legal frameworks)TRANSCRIPT
Tourism Concessions
in Namibia’s Protected Areas
Maputo
19 March 2012
Peter John Massyn
Protected Areas Network
✓ Line ministry responsible for environment and
tourism (MET)
✓ Extensive network of PAs & conservancies with
considerable tourism potential
✓ 20 national parks covering 13% of country
✓ 71 communal conservancies covering 20% of
country
✓ 3 ‘state concessions’ destined to become
‘Kunene Peoples Park’ ( including 6,000km2
Palmwag Concession)
Institutional Framework
✓ Concessions policy approved by Cabinet in 2007
✓ Operates within existing & draft legal frameworks (Nature
Conservation Ordinance & Parks & Wildlife Bill)
✓ Replaces ad hoc approach of the past
✓ Establishes “standard & robust procedure” for award &
management of tourism concessions on state land
✓ Institutional structure:
− Minister is responsible authority with wide discretion
− Concessions Committee appointed by Minister provides advice &
oversight
− Concessions Unit in the Directorate of Tourism does day-to- day
implementation
✓ Integrated with national CBNRM/conservancy programme
✓ Strong donor & NGO support (EU, World Bank, UNDP, KfW,
MCA, NACSO, etc.)
Policy Objectives
✓ To enhance biodiversity conservation through
regulation of commercial operations in PAs
✓ To improve management & control of PAs
✓ To increase revenue generation from PAs
✓ To increase economic contribution of PAs
✓✓✓✓ To advance the ‘economic empowerment’ of
park neighbours and all ‘formerly
disadvantaged Namibians’
✓✓✓✓ To promote sustainable rural development,
poverty alleviation & job creation
Balances conservation, commerce & rural development
Award Process
“The process for awarding concessions will be transparent, objective and fair, but with the
empowerment of formerly disadvantaged Namibians as a priority, and preference given to
rural communities…”
Tender
Auction
Direct award
Direct Award
✓ At the discretion of the Minister (after consultation & guided by policy)
✓ Preference to ‘communities’ resident in or near protected areas
✓ Objective is to ‘mitigate costs’, build incentives & stimulate rural development
✓ Community concessionaires must be legally incorporated, “representative,
accountable and stable”
✓ MET’s role is to:
− award ‘head concessions’ to qualifying
communities (mostly conservancies)
− standardize subaward procedures & oversee
selection of operating partners
− ensure that communities act in terms of
their mandates & are ‘not exploited’
Progress to Date
✓ Concessions Committee and Concessions Unit established & operational
(with donor & NGO support)
✓ Standardized procedures & templates adopted & routinely used
✓ Several competitive tenders awarding concessions in parks to private firms
successfully concluded
✓ Direct award of ‘head concessions’ to communities
at Palmwag/Skeleton Coast, Etendeka, Hobatere/Etosha
& Bwabwata (more to follow)
✓ Some community concessionaires opted for competitive
tenders to select operating partners (Hobatere,
White Sands, Bwabwata)
✓ Others used structured negotiation (RFP, evaluation,
negotiations, closure) with trusted incumbents to reappoint
operating partners (Etendeka & Palmwag)
StateState
ConservancyConservancy
OperatorOperator
‘Head Concession Contract’
‘Concession Operator Contract’
Balance Sheet
✓ Extensive & under-developed resource base
✓ Well-developed institutional environment:
− Enabling legislation & policy in place
− MET concessions unit operational
− Standardized procedures & documents in use
− Well-developed CBNRM programme
− Established network of support NGOs
− Fairly large domestic tourism sector
✓ Track record of success
✗ Uneven political support
✗ Competition from state resort company (NWR)
✗ Competition from mining (trumps all)
✗ Sustainability beyond donor support?
✗ Recession in tourism source markets
Thank You!