Page 9 - Cape-Camera-April-2022

Cape Camera April 2022

The Wolwedans Philosophy & Concept

The Wolwedans journey started in 1995 with just four tents, tional training of less privileged Namibians.
pitched on wooden decks inbetween the dunes. This was to “Combined, our training centres have graduated some 250
generate income for the NmibRand Nature Reserve, a pro- young Namibians in the field of hospitality, providing them
ject that was started by the owner’s father Albie Brückner in a future, meaningful work opportunities and hence a liveli-
the 1980s. At the time, tourism in Namibia was in its infancy hood. In 2008, Wolwedans became a founding member of
and if you wanted to visit Sossusvlei, you either camped at the Long Run (an international membership organization
the very basic Sesriem campsite or checked in at the Mal- of nature-based tourism businesses committed to driv-
tahöhe Hotel some 180 km to the east. ing sustainability) and adopted its 4C sustainability model
“Starting tourism at Wolwedans was really a blank canvas. (Conservation, Community, Culture and Commerce) and
There were no benchmarks, no competitors, no market adding the Wolwedans-centric 5th C, Consciousness.
trends/demands, no leads, no best practices, neither any “If there was one feather ‘we could put on our cap’, it was
regulations. And so, with the vague objective to get paying to be Namibia’s trail-blazers and when it came to matters
guests to visit this desert paradise and to generate income of sustainability. Setting an example, others might feel in-
for conservation (park fees were introduced much later) – spired to follow. In 2019, we won the Namibian “Respon-
we began to walk, not quite knowing where the journey sible Tourism Award”, reaching a milestone. We were well
would take us,” explained Stephan Brückner during his tour aware though, that a long and challenging journey was still
and presentation to our enquiring group of visitors/pho- lying ahead because “doing less harm” was simply not good
tographers after our wonderful four-day stay at one of the enough. 2020 was just the start of things to come. And then
lodges. Covid hit and changed all our plans and shaking us out of
“Intuitively – so it seems in hindsight – we got some things our relative complacency - an abrupt and unplanned end-
right: Like treading softly on the environment and building ing to a 25-year journey of progress, growth and prosperity.
our first camp with minimal impact, religiously staying in “By late April 2020 – four weeks into lock-down and with
the tracks, not burying or dumping our waste and using re- no end in sight – the somber reality dawned on us, that we
newable energy in our camps from the word go, including would not be seeing any guest arrivals for a long time. We
solar hot water. The tourism (business) was seen as a means had no option but to retrench almost 90% of our team, the
to an end, and profit – which eventually became the norm planned Vision workshop was cancelled, building projects
– was seen as a byproduct, not the purpose. In a way (with were put on hold and all Wolwedans Camps were ‘moth-
the primary aim being to generate cash for NamibRand balled’.
through the collection of conservation levies), “sustainabil-
ity” was infused into our DNA from the word go, albeit not “However, what kept Wolwedans alive in this dramatic
time was the by now the well-established Desert Academy,
consciously. and a happy bunch of some 45 young trainees who were
“Over the years, with the addition of the Dune Lodge, Pri- allowed to continue, albeit different and on a shoe-string
vate Camp and Boulders, Wolwedans grew to the point budget. Despite all the odds, and to comply with our Train-
when in early 2020 the ‘Wolwedans Collection’ comprised ing Grant Agreement with the Namibian Training Author-
56 beds, requiring some 110 employees (this excludes 20 ity (which sponsors 50% of our programme), Wolwedans is
contractors and some 45 trainees) to keep the wheels in committed to continue with hospitality training, including
motion and a this ‘micro economy’ ticking. Wolwedans has the trainees from NICE in Windhoek (who now also train in
been a financially sustainable and profitable business for the desert).
the last 20 years, generating over the years in excess of 27
million Namibia Dollars in park fees (collected on behalf of “The timing of this global disruption and enforced stand-
still allowed us time to reflect, adjust and reboot, and press
the NamibRand Nature Reserve). “GO” at a time that felt just right. This massive shift of para-
“In 2007 – with the understanding that it was not only digms and enhanced consciousness helped us to launch
about “saving the Oryx” (who were pretty happy by then ourselves into a second development curve what we call
anyway) – the time had come ‘to give back’ to the commu- the Wolwedans Vision 2030 – a bold concept branded “The
nity (people) too. We registered the non-profit Wolwedans AridEden Project”, which is something that seems more rel-
Foundation and initiated the “Wolwedans Desert Acad- evant now than ever before,” concludes a very committed
emy”. We also started NICE (the Namibian Institute of Culi- Stephan Brückner.
nary Education) in Windhoek, both projects vested in voca-

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