Saving Namibia’s Wildlife | 2022 Impact Challenge

Team Members: Brandon Zamudio, Desiree Haghgoo, Alyssa Guardado

Impact Partner: Michelle McClean Children’s Trust

The Challenge: In Saving Namibia's Wildlife, we must find intuitive ways to raise awareness on the preservation of the country's animals and nature for future generations, whilst improving Namibia’s tourism sector.

SDGs Addressed: SDG 11: Sustainable Cities & Communities, SDG 15: Life On Land

The Solution: For our solution, we propose to encourage the Ministry of Environment and Tourism to increase the awareness of the consequences that come with poaching as well as expand the funding and deployment of conservancy game guards. As Namibia is a country with an abundance of land, there are many possibilities to establish conservation areas for animals at risk for poaching, such as elephants and black rhinos. This would require addressing the people of Namibia to participate in the communal building of reservations, which in turn will help Namibia’s economy and agricultural production.

The Reason: We collectively chose Michelle Mclean’s Children’s Trust because of the intense admiration we have for wildlife. The senseless slaughtering of the animals is immoral and only benefits the wealthy few, leaving the innocent citizens with a poor economy. Not only are animals suffering but so are Namibian citizens since their tourism sectors have drastically decreased. Finding ways to help the vulnerable animals, as well as the people of Namibia, ensures that future generations will acknowledge the beauty of their home and what it has to offer.