Where conservation meets community

Stretching along Namibia’s southern coastline, the Namibian Islands’ Marine Protected Area (NIMPA) is Africa’s second largest marine protected area. Its offshore islands once supported thriving seabird colonies, including the African Penguin and Cape Gannet. Both these species had large breeding colonies on the uninhabited islands off the Namibian coast. Today, the African Penguin is listed as critically endangered and the Cape Gannet as endangered, indicating significant declines during the past few years. Many of Namibia’s islands have gone silent.

When islands appear to be empty, seabirds are less likely to use them for breeding, even if their population numbers recover. This is because small colonies are much more vulnerable to predators than large colonies of birds – no bird wants to lay their eggs in an “unsafe-looking neighbourhood”. To remedy this, scientists have come up with a way to trick the birds into thinking that an island is already home to a large seabird colony. They do this by putting up decoys that look like the birds and using loud playbacks from thriving breeding colonies.

In Namibia, community members in Lüderitz are playing a vital role in this restoration effort for the penguins and gannets. Through a unique community-based conservation initiative, local residents are helping to produce life-like seabird decoys.

For Sizwe Shawa, a Lüderitz resident born and raised in the coastal town, being part of this effort is deeply personal. Sizwe is one of several community members involved in producing the African Penguin and Cape Gannet decoys that will be placed on key islands within the NIMPA.

I was born and raised in Lüderitz. I enjoy the ocean and the life in it – especially the animals on the islands like the African Penguins,” he says. “I joined this project because I want to help prevent them from going extinct. I have seen them with my own eyes, and I want my children and even my great-grandchildren to see them in the future.

Scientific research has shown that such methods are highly effective in restoring seabird populations to former or new breeding sites. In a global review, Jones and Kress (2012) found that techniques such as decoys and acoustic playbacks successfully attract seabirds back to restoration sites, often leading to the establishment of stable breeding colonies. In several cases, species that had disappeared from an area returned and began nesting again within a few years.

Bianca Langs, another Lüderitz resident involved in the project, describes the work as both challenging and meaningful.

I am a member of a small-scale fishers’ association in Lüderitz (known as BIFHA) and a mother of one child. I was born and raised in Lüderitz,” she explains. “I am part of the group helping the seabirds return to the islands because right now they are very empty.