Ju/'hoansi in the Nyae Nyae Conservancy

N//oq!'ae - koa n!ommhi gea koara n!om !ae!ae

N//oq!'ae - rocky place without mountains, is a vast track of Kalahari wilderness in north-eastern Namibia, lying along the western side of Botswana boarder, north of Hereroland and south of Kaudom National Park. It is the ancestral home of the Ju/'hoansi Bushmen, who have successfully retained their historical claims to the land. Theirs is one of the world's oldest surviving cultures. Archaeologists have determined, through analyses of ash taken from fires below the calcrete layer, that the Ju/'hoansi Bushmen have lived in the Nyae Nyae for at least 40, 000 years.

In 1998 the Nyae Nyae Conservancy became the first communal area in Namibia to be declared a conservancy by the Ministry of Environment and Tourism. This gives the Ju/’hoansi the rights to manage both wildlife and other natural resources. A community based organisation established by and for the Ju/'hoan people, run by a democratically elected management committee and board. It plays a key part in a broader community based natural resource program, in an attempt to improve the livelihood of the Ju/'hoansi through the sustainable use of natural resources.

The conservancy is roughly one tenth of the 90, 688 square kilometers that an estimated 1,200 Ju/'hoansi moved seasonally between Namibia and Botswana, as recently as 1950. This reduction in land-base, combined with the loss of traditional hunter-gathering skills in the younger generation, has increasingly forced the Ju/'hoansi to adept to western social values and norms.

Their spirit still plays an integral part of their vision for the Nyae Nyae Conservancy, integrating traditional skills with modern forms of natural resource management, ensuring the long term improvement of the quality of life of its members and the maintenance of Ju/'hoan culture.

The Nyae Nyae Conservancy, Khaudom National Park to the north and the newly gazetted N?a-Jaqna Conservancy to the west, incorporates over 22,000 square kilometers of wilderness wildlife habitat. It is home to the largest free ranging roan antelope herds in Namibia, and provides habitat to common game species including a small number of buffalo. Predators include a sparse population of lion to the north, with healthy numbers of leopard, spotted hyena, jackal and wild dogs.