The finalists of the Responsible Tourism Awards 2019 with the focus on responsible waste management were presented in Windhoek on 1 March 2019. In the Accommodation Establishment category Kalahari Anib Lodge has made it to the final, together with the Desert Rhino Camp (Wilderness Safaris) and the Wolwedans Dune Camp. In the Tour Operators category the Top 3 participants are Sense of Africa, Pack Safari and Wild Dog Safaris. The winners will be announced at the Namibia Tourism Expo in June this year.
“We are honoured to once again be in the running for the Responsible Tourism Award,” says Gondwana Collection Namibia’s environmental officer Quintin Hartung. “We have gone a long way in ensuring that we apply responsible waste management and eliminate all unnecessary single-use plastics in the rooms, bar and restaurant not only at Kalahari Anib Lodge, but also at all our other Gondwana properties.”
In 2018, Kalahari Anib Lodge recycled close to 20 tons of waste through partnerships with Seapride (transport) and Rent-a-Drum. Apart from eliminating unnecessary single-use plastics, a glass crushing machine is used to crush and re-use glass waste. Furthermore, the Lodge has a water recycling plant and since last year a solar energy generating plant which covers about fifty percent of the Lodge’s energy needs.
The Lodge has 52 rooms and is situated in the midst of red Kalahari dunes. It became part of the Gondwana Collection in 2004 along with a 9,800-ha nature park with a wide variety of Kalahari Desert adapted wildlife, including gemsbok, springbok, giraffe, eland, Burchell’s zebra, wildbeest and hartebeest. The Lodge was renovated and extended in 2016, using recycled and locally sourced material.
The Kalahari Anib Lodge follows in the footprints of three other lodges of the Gondwana family, which were among the finalists of the Accommodation Establishment category: Etosha Safari Camp (2016) Etosha Safari Lodge (2017) and the 2018 award winner, Namib Desert Lodge.
Namibia Media Holdings organises the Responsible Tourism Awards for sustainability in close cooperation with Eco Awards Namibia. One requirement for the participation in the RTA is an Eco Award assessment with a minimum rating of four desert flowers out of five, which is the highest eco seal of quality.
Inke Stoldt
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