When a tin mine closed down in remote Namibia, thousands lost their jobs. Now a conservancy and tourism enterprises based around a special mountain are providing alternative livelihoods.
The highest mountain in Namibia is known by many names. The Damara people call it Dâures, “the burning mountain”. The Herero people call it Omukuruwaro, “the fire mountain”. The most common name used is Afrikaans – the Brandberg, or “the burning mountain”.
All the communities that named the mountain set on a vast flat plain were probably struck by the same thing: the sunlight at dawn striking the granite rocks and painting it with a bright palette of reds.
The mountain is renowned for its rock art, dating back more than 2 000 years. But archaeologists believe there has been human settlement in its ravines for at least 500 000 years. The cracks in the granite accumulate rainwater, and the springs and waterholes have attracted groups of people to the mountain for centuries.
In August last year, the Namibian government declared the Brandberg and the surrounding area a conservancy – giving the almost 4 000 communal farmers living there the rights over their natural resources. The Tsibeb conservancy is the largest in Namibia. Until 1990, people in the area who did not live off the land or migrate to cities and towns to find work were employed in the nearby town of Uis at a tin mine. When the mine closed down in 1990, there was no alternative employment.
The Damara people living in the conservancy had established two enterprises – a craft-making project called Dâureb Crafts, and the Ugab Wilderness Camp. After the closure of the mine, they called in an NGO, the Namibia Community Based Tourism Association (Nacobta), to advise them on marketing and improving their enterprises.
Nacobta helped established Dâureb Mountain Guides, which today has 10 qualified and 10 trainee guides who take tourists to the rock art and explain its history and significance. One person from every household in the conservancy is employed in the enterprises on a rotational basis and 10% of the profits are put into a community development fund.
The mountain guides use their own indigenous stories passed on through generations when they take tourists to the rock art. A famous “white lady” frieze dating back at least a century attracts up to 60 car-loads of tourists daily in peak season. The painting was “discovered” in 1917 and named by Abbe Henri Breuil, an acknowledged European rock art expert. However, Breuil knew little about African art – the “white lady” is in fact male.
The paintings are typical of San art. The figures on the rocks of the Brandberg mountain sport beaded headdresses and leggings. Wands and rattles in their hands depict ritual items used by San healers.
“We tell the tourists there are two versions of the truth: what they have read before they came to our conservancy and what we will tell them,” says Karel !Naibab, one of the Dâureb guides. “We received an oral history of the area from our parents. “When you compare what the researchers have done to what our people know, you will see that I don’t need to study in Europe or anywhere to understand my environment. But our indigenous knowledge is not recognised.
“We were living in this area 2 000 to 3 000 years ago. Our grandparents remember the stories about the rock art that they learned from their grandparents.”
One gorge in the mountain, the !Naibab gorge, means “giraffe”, he says. A sub-tribe of the Damaras lived in the gorge. “There are stories among my people of the rain-making dances they performed.
“The giraffe was tall enough to speak to the clouds and ask for rain on behalf of my people. All the paintings in that gorge are of giraffes, other animals and hunters.”
In the past, the rock paintings were defaced by graffiti and litter was strewn throughout the area. There were snakes in the caves and the rocks leading to it are very slippery.
“Now you are only allowed to go there with a guide. The guides have to pick up all the litter left behind by tourists, whether they are on their own or with a group,” !Naibab says.
He adds the guides intend setting up a project to record the stories of the old people in the conservancy and prepare a written record of their past.
!Naibab was born in Uis. After completing high school, he taught for two years, then went to study environmental awareness at the Windhoek Polytech. But he hated city life and returned home. “In the conservancy there is life, we have everything we need. I can go to a big city but I will always return to Uis.”
!Naibab’s awareness of his environment and his commitment to helping his people became apparent at an early age. Dâureb Crafts, which is a project aimed at empowering women, was started by the local school’s environment club, of which !Naibab was a member.
“When we brought the idea to the community, the women grabbed it with both hands, and there are now seven women employed fulltime at the craft centre,” he explains. “The Rössing Foundation buys all the crafts and sells them overseas. The women make linocrafts, painted eggs, candles, pencils, frames and sandpaintings. Most of the products are made from paper and other local material.”
The Ugab Wilderness Camp has 14 campsites that are self-catering and six tented camps with services supplied. “We can’t really expand because it will have a massive impact on the environment, which is very sensitive. Our camp is on a sandbank where two rivers meet, so there is really no space for more tents,” says !Naibab. “There are sulfadora bushes near the camp, which are used for traditional beer and medicine.
“On another possible site where we can expand, there are acacia trees that provide fodder for domestic animals. The Brandberg acacia grows on solid granite and attracts birds and insects to the area.”
When it rains, the gravel plains surrounding the mountain are covered by grass, attracting elephants out of the surrounding desert areas. These rare desert elephants, which are specially adapted to survive the harsh Namibian desert conditions, are usually difficult to see and are a great tourist attraction. The new grasses also attract springbok, zebra and hartebeest. Kudu and oryx live permanently in the area, and elephant and black rhino are spotted occasionally. Leopards are found all over the mountain.
Scientific interest in the Brandberg so far has been mainly focused on the archaeological remains and not its living environment. Now the Namibian government intends nominating the Brandberg for World Heritage status, giving international protection to “the burning mountain” which is providing a livelihood for the people living in its shadow.