Namibia

Introduction

The discovery and subsequent excavation of a ‘500 year-old Portuguese’ shipwreck in 2008 alerted the Namibian government and community to the archaeological and historical value of MUCH sites in Namibia.  It is also alerted them to the potential monetary wealth of this material. A further discovery of a shipwreck in Namibia was made in early 2010.

Activities

Currently there is no MUCH programme in Namibia, no staff or resources to implement an active program in surveying, assessing and managing these sites.

It has therefore been recommended that Phase 1 and 2 of the CIE’s capacity building program be used to build-up the capacity in implementing a MUCH program in Namibia. It is further recommended that this should be followed up with the implementation of Phases 3 and 4.

To develop these goals and to further the MUCH regional collaboration, Namibia was one of the five countries that endorsed an African World Heritage Fund AWHF application that was submitted on 31 July 2010. As Namibia does not currently have any designated World Heritage Sites with associated maritime and underwater cultural heritage, it may contain such sites that could be entered on a tentative list and a nomination prepared, and this process will form part of the AWHF application.

Personnel

Emma Imalwa