It came as a surprise: Namushasha River Lodge in Caprivi (Zambezi Region) was voted ‘Community Conservation Lodge of the Year’ by NACSO and HAN in recognition of Gondwana’s close cooperation with the Mashi community in terms of employment, nature conservation and support for the Namushasha Cultural Village. The distinction was awarded at the HAN gala evening on 3 December in Windhoek. HAN is the Hospitality Association of Namibia, NACSO is the Namibian Association of CBNRM Support Organisations.
The manager of Namushasha River Lodge, Otto von Kaschke, received the distinction on behalf of Gondwana. He and his wife Brigitte took over at the lodge in October 2012. “From the start, cooperation with the Mashi community in the conservancy was characterised by lots of good will and friendliness”, he says. “Only little by little we found out that the relationship had been overshadowed by severe conflict before Gondwana bought the lodge in June 2012.”
Since then the joint management committee meets at regular intervals. Almost all the staff is recruited from the local community. Intensive training programmes were arranged for waitrons and kitchen staff during the past one-and-a-half years.
Gondwana also helped to reconstruct the Namushasha Cultural Village, a traditional village built around a large Baobab tree. An educational trail connects the village with the lodge which is about one kilometre away. The cultural village is a joint project of the Mashi community, Gondwana and the Millennium Challenge Account Namibia.
According to Maxi Louis, the Director of NACSO, all of these initiatives contributed to Namushasha River Lodge being voted Community Conservation Lodge of the Year. “Namushasha was chosen for the award because of the change in the relationship between the lodge and the conservancy. We feel that the joint venture partner has really worked on improving the relationship with the conservancy, and staff morale has also been boosted significantly.”
NACSO and HAN initiated the award three years ago to draw attention to particularly well-functioning joint venture lodge partnerships in communal areas.
The support organisations (NACSO) of the Namibian Association of Community Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) are 14 non-government organisations and the University of Namibia. NACSO was established to support rural communities in the sustainable utilisation and management of their natural resources.
The manager of Namushasha River Lodge, Otto von Kaschke, received the distinction on behalf of Gondwana. He and his wife Brigitte took over at the lodge in October 2012. “From the start, cooperation with the Mashi community in the conservancy was characterised by lots of good will and friendliness”, he says. “Only little by little we found out that the relationship had been overshadowed by severe conflict before Gondwana bought the lodge in June 2012.”
Since then the joint management committee meets at regular intervals. Almost all the staff is recruited from the local community. Intensive training programmes were arranged for waitrons and kitchen staff during the past one-and-a-half years.
Gondwana also helped to reconstruct the Namushasha Cultural Village, a traditional village built around a large Baobab tree. An educational trail connects the village with the lodge which is about one kilometre away. The cultural village is a joint project of the Mashi community, Gondwana and the Millennium Challenge Account Namibia.
According to Maxi Louis, the Director of NACSO, all of these initiatives contributed to Namushasha River Lodge being voted Community Conservation Lodge of the Year. “Namushasha was chosen for the award because of the change in the relationship between the lodge and the conservancy. We feel that the joint venture partner has really worked on improving the relationship with the conservancy, and staff morale has also been boosted significantly.”
NACSO and HAN initiated the award three years ago to draw attention to particularly well-functioning joint venture lodge partnerships in communal areas.
The support organisations (NACSO) of the Namibian Association of Community Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) are 14 non-government organisations and the University of Namibia. NACSO was established to support rural communities in the sustainable utilisation and management of their natural resources.
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