Exploration and Mining in the Coastal and Marine Environment, Namibia

Mining and Fishing

Because the Namibian economy depends to a large degree on mining and fishing, it is increasingly important to monitor the activities of these sectors with a view toward sustainable development. The South African Development Community (SADC) Mining Sector Environmental Subcommittee, which is chaired by Namibia through its Geological Survey, has the mission to coordinate the development of an environmentally friendly mining sector according to the SADC Mining Sector Program of Action.

To delineate environmentally sensitive areas or areas of potentially overlapping economic interest, a series of maps has been compiled in cooperation with the National Marine Information and Research Center. The maps show the distribution of coastal and offshore mineral commodities (alluvial diamonds, hydrocarbons, phosphorite, glauconite), extent of economic zones, fishing and spawning grounds, current mining and exploration license areas, and the distribution of shorebound and marine wildlife and are intended to assist governmental policy makers in visualizing and addressing the issues at stake.