Staff Reporter<\/p>\n\n\n\n
THE Kavango Zambezi Trans-Frontier Conservation Area (KAZA TFCA) has launched a regenerative nature-based tourism initiative aimed at strengthening conservation, supporting local tourism businesses and expanding sustainable livelihood opportunities across Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Joint Action on Regenerative Nature-Based Tourism (R-NBT) was launched on Thursday during a Regional Stakeholder Roundtable held from 22 to 24 September in Maun, Botswana.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The initiative, launched in partnership with the European Union and the German Government, will support Micro, Small and Medium Tourism Enterprises (MSMEs), with a particular focus on businesses led by women, youth and communities living near protected areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Support will include capacity building, access to finance, business development and stronger integration into tourism markets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
KAZA TFCA, which spans the five countries, is the world\u2019s largest terrestrial transfrontier conservation landscape. The initiative seeks to ensure that tourism contributes not only to biodiversity conservation, but also to job creation, stronger local businesses and increased benefits for communities across the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The initiative forms part of Germany\u2019s and the European Union\u2019s broader support to the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Tourism Programme, which promotes sustainable and inclusive tourism development across Southern Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Through the programme, SADC Member States are supported in strengthening regional tourism integration, improving the business environment for tourism enterprises and unlocking the economic potential of the region\u2019s natural and cultural assets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking at the launch, Botswana\u2019s Minister of Environment and Tourism, Wynter Boipuso Mmolotsi, represented by Acting Deputy Permanent Secretary Charles Kabo Mojalemotho, said regenerative tourism should strengthen both nature and the communities that depend on it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThrough this initiative, we want to build more resilient and competitive local enterprises while ensuring that the benefits of nature-based tourism reach communities and MSMEs across the KAZA landscape,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
KAZA Secretariat Executive Director Dr Nyambe Nyambe welcomed the focus on women-led, youth-led and community-based enterprises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBy investing in these businesses, we are investing directly in the resilience and prosperity of the KAZA landscape,\u201d Nyambe said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Simone Goertz, Head of Economic and Development Cooperation at the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Botswana, said the initiative builds on a longstanding partnership between Germany and KAZA that extends beyond tourism to transboundary natural resource management, biodiversity conservation, climate resilience and sustainable economic development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She said the focus should move beyond sustaining existing systems towards regenerating the ecological, social and economic systems on which tourism depends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fahari Marwa, Director of Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources at the SADC Secretariat, said tourism should contribute to the restoration of nature while placing communities at the centre of tourism development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Catalin Gherman, Head of Partnerships at the EU Delegation to Botswana and SADC, said the EU\u2019s Global Gateway Strategy and NaturAfrica provide support for landscapes important to conservation and human development, with a focus on job creation, livelihoods, security and ecosystem protection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said changing global tourism markets increasingly reward businesses that demonstrate positive environmental and social impacts, while emphasising the need to support micro and small enterprises and strengthen the enabling business environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Regional Stakeholder Roundtable brought together representatives from the five KAZA Partner States, the SADC Secretariat, financial institutions, private-sector stakeholders, conservation organisations and MSMEs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The participants are expected to validate tourism value-chain findings and jointly shape implementation priorities for the programme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The R-NBT Joint Action is funded by the Federal Republic of Germany and the European Union and implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft f\u00fcr Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH in partnership with the KAZA Secretariat and SADC Secretariat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The initiative forms part of a broader Multi-Partner Contribution Agreement supporting regenerative nature-based tourism in Colombia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Photo: SADC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Staff Reporter THE Kavango Zambezi Trans-Frontier Conservation Area (KAZA TFCA) has launched a regenerative nature-based tourism initiative aimed at strengthening conservation, supporting local tourism businesses and expanding sustainable livelihood opportunities across Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The Joint Action on Regenerative Nature-Based Tourism (R-NBT) was launched on Thursday during a Regional Stakeholder Roundtable held …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":401416,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-401415","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n