A role model for conservation: Janet Matota

Janet Matota is a true pioneer of community-based natural resource management and a role model for men and women in Caprivi and beyond. Having joined the IRDNC (Integrated Rural Development and Nature Conservation) as the country’s first community resource monitor (CRM), she is now a valuable member of IRNDC’s Caprivi management team.

As a field co-ordinator and mother of three, Janet understands the challenges facing rural women who have to eke a living from natural resources while facing poverty, unemployment and HIV/Aids.  Her enthusiasm for her work, the compassion with which she performs her duties and the strong leadership role she plays have helped hundreds of women – and men – in Caprivi to reassess their relationship with the environment. Her endeavours have also promoted and strengthened the role of crafts as a source of income for rural women.

Born in the village of Malengalenga, Janet attended school in Zimbabwe before returning to Caprivi to complete her education. At the time the Community-Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) Programme had expanded to the Caprivi Region, but IRNDC realised that the activities engaged mostly men, ignoring the integral role women played in agriculture and natural resource management.

They searched communities for strong and dedicated women to serve as CRMs. The CRMs’ duties involved listening to rural women, increasing and strengthening the involvement of women in the programme, supporting the development, production and marketing of crafts and monitoring natural resources such as palms, grass and trees. So, in 1994, the IRDNC employed a shy but enthusiastic Janet. She and other CRMs worked tirelessly in remote parts of eastern Caprivi to understand women’s needs, concerns and involvement with natural resources.

As the number of CRMs grew, Janet began supervising and training new monitors while supporting conservancy formation in Caprivi. Janet and the 25 CRMs employed in eastern and western Caprivi have helped to ensure that rural women understand how to harvest palms for craft production, having worked closely with Rössing Foundation to improve the general standards of crafts and oversee the management of Mashi Crafts at Kongola.  Janet’s contribution to CBNRM was recognised by the Namibia Nature Foundation when she was a joint recipient of the NNF’s first Environmental Award in 2000. These awards recognise extraordinary contributions, demonstrating that individuals can and do make a positive and significant impact on the quality of the environment and therefore promote sustainable development.

Says Janet about the award: “It was like a dream. I was not expecting it, and I greatly appreciated the award.” She adds that the biggest impact of receiving the award was the confidence it gave other CRMs, who look up to her as a role model, and say to themselves, “If she’s doing it, why can’t we?”

Janet recently travelled to the United States to attend a training course in Leadership Development for Women, which she described as inspirational when she returned. However, she was soon back in the field and is often seen on the dusty roads of eastern Caprivi, travelling alone in remote areas of Caprivi to facilitate and co-ordinate meetings and field activities.

Devastated by the impact of HIV/Aids on communities, and particularly on women, Janet currently works to mainstream HIV/Aids into CBNRM activities.

This article appeared in the 2005/6 edition of Conservation and the Environment in Namibia.