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The Ministers responsible for coordinating matters of the Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area ( KAZA TFCA) from Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana, and Botswana met in Katima Mulilo, Namibia yesterday the 13th of October 2022. The Zimbabwean Minister Hon Ngobizitha Mangaliso Ndhlovu was represented by his Deputy Minister Hon Barbara Rwodzi.
They met to reflect on how the joint efforts in the development and management of KAZA TFCA are progressing. They noted significant impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the tourism industry as the private sector, local communities, and all sectors of the Nation were negatively impacted. Through KAZA, funding has been mobilised to support the mitigation of COVID-19 impacts.
The Member States remain committed to regionally-integrated approaches to supporting the recovery of the tourism sector and commit to diversification as a strategy for the resilient tourism industry in the KAZA TFCA. To this end, the member states are advancing works on tourism branding and corporate identity, destination marketing activities, and establishment of the Great KAZA Birding Route, which among other initiatives will help to better undertake the joint marketing of KAZA TFCA.
They reaffirmed the commitment to the KAZA vision, underpinned by the conservation and sustainable use of natural resources for the benefit of present and future generations through the approval of key strategic documents to inform the work of the member states.
As KAZA member states they will remain resolved to foster joint responsibilities in promoting sustainable management and use of natural resources. They will work to continue to identify opportunities and implement measures that enable local communities, as custodians, to legitimately benefit from these resources.
The meeting was also attended by the Minister of Environment, Forestry and Tourism Hon Pohamba Shifeta, Zambian Minister of Tourism Hon Rodney J. Sikumba, Botswana Minister of Environment, Natural Resources Conservation and Tourism Hon. Philda Nani Kereng and other officials from the member states.