The human-wildlife conflict came under the spotlight at a two-day conservation research conference at the University of Namibia's Katima Mulilo Campus.

The conference, organised by the Department of Wildlife Management and Tourism Studies, was held under the theme "Harmony in Wildlife Conservation and Tourism."

Human-wildlife conflict was among the topics of research, with some stakeholders advocating for mitigation, particularly in the Kavango-Zambezi (KAZA) nature and landscape conservation area, which has a high population of elephants. 

Zambezi Governor Lawrence Sampofu said such platforms are key to finding solutions to the reality of human-wildlife conflict and striking a balance in promoting sustainable tourism.

"We have 15 conservancies and one association, which makes it 16. That means our communities are very serious about community-based resource management, which they have to do to attract tourism to the areas. Sustainable tourism is needed so that we provide other services to communities that the government alone cannot do. Here we have the private sector, the tourism sector, that has to do very good work to maintain our biodiversity."

The Deputy Director for the north-east regions in the Ministry of Environment and Tourism, Apollinaris Kannyinga, said the conference addressed various topics relevant to the ministry.

"So of interest to us was the research really on human-wildlife conflict, and there's also a student who presented on tourism arrivals and also visitors going out of these countries elsewhere, so these are the information that needs to be given out in the public domain to see what our wildlife is contributing to our economy, to biodiversity conservation."

The Head of the Wildlife and Tourism Management Department at the campus, Dr. Evans Simasiku, said the meeting was an important platform for staff as well as students in their final year.

"For us, it's a big achievement to see our own students go the extra mile to think about how they can incorporate the technology and what the issues are involving the aspects of wildlife conservation and sustainable tourism, so that's a good achievement so far."

Many of the presentations addressed the realities on the ground.