Climate change, extinction of species, destruction of natural habitats. Humans are realising that they cannot live endlessly at the cost of the environment. Everywhere in the world, people have been looking for ways to live in harmony with nature. In Namibia a company has been founded that is on its way to such harmony …
ONE Namibia is a company which marries tourism and nature conservation: game keeping, preservation of habitats, nature experiences for tourists, game keeping financed by hospitality resorts and the creation of workplaces.
Add nature-oriented agriculture: fresh vegetables and free-range beef for visitors to the region and locals alike.
ONE Namibia preserves wildlife
These are both not novel ideas. The Rust family trust behind ONE Namibia has operated Waterberg Wilderness nature reserve and Ghaub Nature Reserve & Farm according to these principles since 2000 and 2016 respectively.
The novelty is, that wildlife and hospitality businesses now both fall under the umbrella of ONE Namibia. Ondekaremba, the family farm cum hospitality resort at the international airport, is also part of ONE, which gets its name from the abbreviation for Ondekaremba Nature Estate Ltd.
ONE Namibia open for small investors
However, the most important innovation is that Namibian and foreign small investors can now become part of the company. From November, the Rust family will sell shares of ONE Namibia. Hence the slogan: All for ONE, ONE for Nature.
The idea to win over as many Namibia lovers as possible to partake in the natural sutainability concept and its implementation, has been in the pipeline for some time. The Corona crisis was the catalyst that brought the realisation of the idea into full force.
The crisis accelerates the destruction of habitats, in Namibia and elsewhere in the world. Namibia has not seen international tourists since March, and the income for large parts of the Namibian population has vanished with them.
With ONE Namibia against the Corona crisis
Without state rescue like in Europe, tourism and other businesses in Namibia are forced to send their employees on unpaid leave and to reduce the salaries of their skeleton staff. This also affects game rangers. All of this, while poaching is on the rise at an alarming rate.
The Corona crisis also poses a threat to the access to foodstuff in Namibia. Most foodstuff is imported. Prices have increased dramatically. With cattle farming and the cultivation of vegetables and fodder plants on Ghaub, ONE Namibia wants to strengthen local food production and distribution.
