Synopsis: Namibia is one of Africa’s conservation success stories, with over 43% of its land surface under biodiversity protection. It also boasts healthy and growing populations of some of the world’s most endangered mammals. For example, Namibia has approximately 85% of southern black rhino and 80% of free-roaming cheetah, and elephant numbers have increased from 7 500 in 1995 to current estimates of over 22 000.

A key to its success has been allowing private and communal ownership of wildlife for consumptive and non-consumptive use purposes.

In this seminar, Dr. Morgan Hauptfleisch will explain the fundamentals of Namibia’s success story, and highlight possible international partnering opportunities for collaborative research between NUST and Imperial College London.

Bio:  Dr. Morgan Hauptfleisch is a senior lecturer within the Namibia University of Science and Technology’s Nature Conservation Programme. He holds a BSc. Honours degree in Ecology and Botany, an MSc. in Plant Ecology and Wildlife Management, and a PhD in Environmental Management.  He is currently involved in research on the topics of environmental impact assessment, human wildlife conflict, wildlife census and small mammal inventories He lectures in Ecology and Natural Resource Management and serves on the board of the International Association for Impact Assessment, the Southern African Institute for Environmental Assessment, and the council of the Namibia Chamber of Environment.