V. Conclusions and recommendations

81. The Government should give high priority to purchasing adequate resettlement  lands for the Hai//om people living in Oshivelo and other similarly situated San groups who were removed from the Etosha National Park in the 1950s. When selecting lands, the Government should make all efforts to accommodate the Oshivelo community’s desire to have access to lands in Etosha National Park for tourism purposes and also receive lands adjacent to the park suitable for agricultural and other economic activities.

82. Namibia should take measures to reform protected - area laws and policies that now prohibit San people, especially the Khwe in Bwabwata National Park and the Hai//om in Etosha National Park, from securing rights to lands and resources that they have traditionally occupied and used within those parks. The Government should guarantee that San people currently living within the boundaries of national parks are allowed to stay, with secure rights over the lands they occupy.

83. In addition, the Government should take steps to increase the participation of San people in the management of park lands, through concessions or other constructive arrangements, and should minimize any restrictions that prohibit San from carrying out traditional subsistence and cultural activities within these parks.

84. The Government should review its decision not to allow the Hai//om San people to operate a tourism lodge within the boundaries of Etosha National Park under their current tourism concession. Further, management of concessions should not be limited to only those Hai//om groups that opt to move to  the resettlement farms.

85. The Government should enforce the provisions of the Communal Land Reform Act that prohibit the erection of fences in communal lands. It should also investigate allegations of illegal fencing in the Nyae Nyae and N‡a Jaqna conservancy areas and in communal areas occupied by Himba people. Furthermore, efforts should be made to harmonize any inconsistent laws and policies regarding conservancy areas and communal lands or other actions that promote competing interests on those lands.