Namibia lobbies for 'climate change' money

An old man gently touches the trunk of the huge quiver tree with a worried look on his wrinkled face, as he points at several dead branches lying on Namibia's rugged terrain.

By Brigitte Weidlich, in Windhoek for AFP Published: 11:36AM GMT 06 Jan 2010
"When I was a boy, my grandfather made my first quiver from a branch of this old tree about seventy years ago, but I fear the tree is dying - too many dead branches. Things changed over the past few years, and these trees just die," he said.
Aaron Kairabeb works on a farm 200 kilometres (125 miles) south-east of Namibia's capital, Windhoek, where tourists go on scenic hikes and also view a cluster of the giant aloe trees that can live for more than 300 years.

They grow in arid regions of Namibia and South Africa and are well adapted to their environment through water-storing succulent leaves and shallow root systems. The Bushman or San people used to make quivers for their bows from the trees' dead branches.
But over the past few years Kairabeb, who grew up in the area, noticed that large quiver trees - protected in Namibia and by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) - were drying out and toppling over.
Scientists said that this is most likely caused by drought.
The quiver tree has been placed on the red-listed of threatened species in a report released by the Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) during last month's climate summit in Copenhagen.
The report red-listed 10 animal and plant species, including the beluga whale, emperor penguin and the quiver tree.
"The quiver tree is noted for its drought tolerance and longevity, but it may be operating at the edge of its physiological tolerance," said the report's co-author, Wendy Foden of IUCN. Deaths have been reported since 2001 in Namibia and South Africa.
The Namibian prime minister, Nahas Angula, told reporters on his return from Denmark that "Copenhagen was disappointing and world leaders failed monumentally to reach a binding agreement".
During the summit Angula lobbied for Namibia's recovery plan after two devastating floods hit northern regions in 2008 and 2009, while other areas suffered severe drought.
"Namibia requires 1.7 billion Namibian dollars (£137.3 million) for damages and losses suffered in these floods and another 3.8 billion Namibian dollars for longer term needs such as constructing more disaster resilient housing and infrastructure."
The Namibian government is planning a conference with potential donors during 2010 to raise the funds.
A government report in 2008 found that temperatures have risen 1.2 degrees C (about two degrees F) in Namibia over the last century, making it the driest country south of the Sahara. And the increases are expected to continue.
The former German colony has a population of some two million, with about 70 per cent in rural areas dependent on subsistence agriculture.