Namibian Professional Hunting Association (NAPHA) emphasizes conservation and sustainability at 49th annual general meeting

The Namibian Professional Hunting Association (NAPHA) held its 49 th Annual General Meeting on the 6 th and 7th December 2023 in Windhoek at Arebbush Travel Lodge. It was also the first time that NAPHA hosted a small trade exhibition and the proceeds gathered from our annual fundraiser auction exceeded our expectations. NAPHA would like to thank all its sponsors and, of course, the bidders for supporting our organisation. The ethical and sustainable practice of conservation hunting and its role in preserving Namibia’s invaluable natural heritage for generations to come was the topic close to most of NAPHA’s members and invited guests’ hearts during our proceedings.

The theme of this year’s AGM was “Sustainability” and hunting does play a pivotal role in the balance of Namibia’s unique biodiversity and its ecosystems. This fact was underpinned by our keynote speaker, the world-renowned Dr Robert Kröger, the Executive Director of Blood Origins, who gave an inspirational address. Blood Origins is a global non-profit organization whose mission is to convey the truth about hunting and by promoting conservation efforts globally. Nadia le Roux from the Kalahari African Wild Dog Conservation Project was awarded the prestigious “Conservationist of the Year” floating trophy.

Other topics presented at the open session included presentations by, amongst others, Chantel Louw from the Ministry of Environment, Forestry & Tourism (MEFT) on hunting statistics, an open session for questions and answers on burning issues affecting our entire hunting fraternity as well as a presentation on the Age-Related Measurement System (ART) by Mr Kai-Uwe Denker with a course which followed his presentation. The open session was concluded with a Fun Shoot sponsored by Krieghoff Hunting & Sporting Arms.

On the 7 th of December 2023 NAPHA held their closed session. Here too they had some interesting guest speakers, including Mr Richard Fryer from MEFT, who shared their scientific approach on setting up the hunting quotas for the various hunting areas, Mr Wolfgang Holzinger from 4One TV as well as various sponsorship presentations throughout the proceedings. The terms of Hannes Du Plessis, Hagen Denker and Axel Cramer came to an end.

Both Axel Cramer, who was re-elected as President for his second term and Hannes Du Plessis (Vice- President) will continue to serve on the ExCo. Mr Jacques Strauss was voted onto the Executive Committee, after Mr Hagen Denker did not make himself available for re-election. Mr Denker served the membership on an executive level for the past five consecutive years. Harm Woortman (Treasurer) and Royston Wright will only be completing their term by the end of 2024.