Parks

The Erongo Region is home to two national parks, a seal reserve, four communal conservancies and a number of private game reserves or farms.

Namibia is well known for its strong position on the conservation of its environment, the actual proclamation of various areas as reserves and the necessary acts, rules, regulations and procedures to safeguard its rich and unique biodiversity. More than 42 percent of land in Namibia is under some form of conservation management.

A portion of the Namib-Naukluft Park lies within the southern part of the Erongo Region, while the rest of the park falls within the Hardap and Karas Regions. In the Erongo part of the park one would find the world-renowned Gobabeb desert research station and the ephemeral Kuiseb river.

The Dorob National Park, proclaimed as a park on 1 December 2010, covers an area of 8,118 km². It stretches from the Kuiseb Delta in the south, northwards up to the Ugab River, and it reaches inland by about 40 km from the coast line.

Within its confines one would find the Cape Cross Seal Reserve with its thousands of seals, the Messum Crater, the Moon Landscape (crossing also into the Namib Naukluft Park) and the Dune Belt between Swakopmund and Walvis Bay.

The Dorob National Park, with the Namib-Naukluft Park, the Skeleton Coast Park on the northern coast of Namibia, and the Sperrgebiet National Park on the southern coast, together form the Namib Skeleton National Park.  The Namib Skeleton National Park, stretching along the whole Namibian coast of 1,570 km and with an area of 10,754 million ha, is the biggest park in Africa and the sixth largest in Africa.

In the districts of Omaruru and Karibib in the central and eastern part of the region, a number of private game reserves, hunting farms and guest farms are to be found. The biggest private game park in Namibia, Erindi Game Reserve of 79,000 ha, is situated on the eastern border of the region, which is home to 20 000 animals, among them Elephant, Lion, Rhinos, Gippos and Leopard.

Through the Community Based Natural Resource Management Program of the Ministry of Environment and Tourism partnerships were established with four communal conservancies in the Erongo Region.

By means of community-based organisations local people manage and utilise the wildlife and tourism resources in their areas, thereby deriving direct and indirect mutual benefits. These conservancies together with the about 54 other similar conservancies in the country enjoy employment creation, revenue, in-kind benefits, capacity building and other benefits.

The communal four communal conservancies in the Erongo Region are:

COMMUNAL CONSERVANCY	DATE REGISTERED	AREA	POPULATIONABOUT	ENTERPRISES& IMPORTANT FEATURES	MAJOR WILDLIFE RESOURCES
Otjimboyo	March 2003	448 km2	1,000 people	Ugab River Valley	Elephant, Leopard, Cheetah,Ostrich,Kudu, Oryx, Springbok, Steenbok, Klipspringer,Jackal
Tsiseb	January 2001	8,083 km2	2,000 people	Brandberg,White Lady rock paintings, Petrified Forrest,Ugab River, Messum Crater	Elephant,Black Rhino,Mountain Zebra,Leopard, Cheetah,Ostrich,Kudu, Oryx, Springbok, Steenbok, Duiker
≠Gaingu	March 2004	7,677 km2	2,800 people	Spitzkoppe Rest Camp & craft centre,Spitzkoppe national monument area	Kudu, Oryx, Sprinbok, Leopard
Ohungu	October 2006	1,211 km2	1,000 people	Ugab River Valley	Elephant, Leopard, Cheetah, Kudu, Oryx, Springbok, Steenbok, Duiker, Moutain Zebra