Rod Braby bids farewell to NACOMA

namib times 10 july 2015

After nine years at the Namibian Coast Conservation and Management (NACOMA) Project, Rodney Braby, better known as Rod Braby, bids farewell to the Project. Braby will embark on a new career at the Benguela Current Marine Spatial Management and Governance Project commissioned through the Benguela Current Commission by the Federal Republic of Germany’s Environment Ministry.

Having always believed in conservation, Rod started his career at NACOMA as a Senior Technical Advisor.

He was then promoted to Project Coordinator and was instrumental in the proclamation of the Dorob

National Park in 2010 and developed a framework to strengthen nature conservation in the coastal regions of Namibia.

Since the Project’s inception in 2006, Rod and his team created, implemen-

ted, educated and promo-

ted sustainable economic development through the notion of Integrated Coas-tal Zone Management

(ICZM).

“I would say all NA-

COMA accomplishments

have been a team effort and I really do not deserve all the merit as maintaining a highly motivated and productive team has always been the key.”

His long career in coastal and desert conservation in Möwe Bay and Swakopmund have helped add credibility to what NACOMA has been trying to achieve.

Rod was fortunate enough to have worked with some of the country’s best-known conservationists, namely Steven and Louise Braine, Rudi and Blythe Loutit, Jacquie and Peter Tarr and John Paterson to name a few but his career highlights at NACOMA was being honoured by the Ministry of Environment and Tourism (MET) and the Ohlthaver & List (O&L) Group of Companies with an Honorary Coastodian award and a Special Achievement Award – World Class Conservation award respectively.

Rod’s role in Conservation at the coast

Rod has been involved in securing safe breeding areas for Namibia’s coastal bird populations such as the Damara Tern and the African Black Oystercatchers, as well as monitoring and protecting desert-adapted elephants, black rhinos and lions in the country’s northwestern region.

He has been actively involved in environmental issues for over 30 years, ploughing back into conservation a lot of his free time, writing articles and publications and serving as the chairman on the Namibia Wildlife Society from 1993 to 1994, the Surfing Association of Namibia from 1996 to 2006, Vice President of the African Surfing Federation for two years, and then finally a trustee at the Save the Rhino Trust for the past four years.

He also spent much time on aerial and ground surveys along the entire Namibian coastline on wildlife, mining impacts, birds and cetaceans.

Cameron Kandjii, appointed as Acting NACOMA Project Coordinator, thanked Rod for his years of dedicated service at NACOMA and for “the role he played in grooming young and competent Namibian staff in whose hands the Namibian coastline will be sustainably managed to the future generations of our beloved country.”