Namibia is a biodiverse country with a large protected area network. However, a lack of baseline data has resulted in many of Namibia’s important biodiversity areas being overlooked and left outside these protected areas. As a result, several small-range endemics occur in unprotected areas, making them vulnerable to multiple threats. 

Southeastern Namibia contains part of the Gariep Centre of Endemism but largely falls outside any protected areas in Namibia. It borders two major biomes with summer and winter rainfall (Nama Karoo and Succulent Karoo) and four major geological formations. The endemism potential for arthropod and smaller vertebrate diversity here has been highlighted and the Warmbad District was selected as a potential Important Plant Area (IPA) in Namibia. It is poorly surveyed with only two recent botanical trips and few animal records compared to the rest of the country. In addition, few phylogenetic studies have been done here, while similar work in adjacent South Africa has resulted in numerous species discoveries.

The Namibia Nature Foundation, working in close collaboration with partners, the National Botanical Research Institute (NBRI) and the National Museum of Namibia (NMN),  aims to quantify the endemism and biodiversity potential of southeastern Namibia and make recommenations to designate an appropriate conservation status or standard for significant sites.  To do so, NNF will review existing data in national botanical and zoological collections and carry out targeted field surveys to update species distributions, taxonomy, and threat status to analyze and assess overall diversity and endemism of this area.

The objectives for the Incorporating Succulent Plant and Animal Species Information into Conservation Planning project include:

Objective 1: Establish a baseline and fill biodiversity gaps for plants, arthropods, and small vertebrates, for south-eastern Namibia.

Objective 2: Undertake taxonomic and conservation research of plants, arthropods, and small vertebrates, in south-eastern Namibia.

Objective 3: Share data on open access platforms and conservation platforms.

Objective 4: Designation of an area within the south-eastern Namibia to an appropriate conservation status or standard.

Objective 5: Capacity building of Namibians in data management, data collection and conservation techniques.

Frances Chase is the Director of Programmes at the Namibia Nature Foundation (NNF) and oversees a large portfolio of Projects. Frances previously worked at the National Botanical Research Institute (NBRI) in Namibia, her background is Botany, mainly in herbarium management and plant taxonomy but also has a broad knowledge the plant ecology and plant conservation. She has worked in Angola, Ethiopia, Mozambique, and Namibia and holds an MSc in Plant Diversity from Reading University. She is passionate about plant conservation and has a growing interest in working with communities and the development of biodiversity-based value chains.