The SCIONA project, funded by the European Union, aims to enhance cross-border ecosystem management and wildlife protection in the Iona – Skeleton Coast Transfrontier Conservation Area (TFCA) of Angola and Namibia. Led by the Namibia University of Science and Technology in collaboration with Instituto Superior de Ciências de Educação (ISCED) da Huíla, Angola, the project spans three years, starting from February 2018.

SCIONA focuses on co-designing and implementing conservation monitoring technology with park authorities and local communities to address human-wildlife conflicts and habitat encroachment. Building on Namibia's successful community-based natural resource management program, the project seeks to replicate similar successes in Angola's Iona National Park, which faces challenges due to past civil unrest and a lack of institutional support.

By engaging communities and leveraging technology, SCIONA aims to mitigate conflicts and support wildlife conservation across the region.

The SCIONA project aims to strengthen cross-border ecosystem management and wildlife protection in the Iona – Skeleton Coast Transfrontier Conservation Area (TFCA) through co-designing and implementing conservation monitoring technology with the park authorities and surrounding communities. The SCIONA project builds on the Namibian experiences with community involvement in ecotourism and conservation. Namibia has been at the forefront of devolving natural resource management authority to the local communities through the legally mandated Community-based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) programme.

Under stable political conditions within an enabling policy environment, Namibia’s Skeleton Coast National Park and the adjacent conservancies have seen a positive growth of wildlife populations over the past 40 years. As the Namibian communities also rely on subsistence cattle and goat farming, they are particularly vulnerable to conflicts with predators such as lion, hyena, leopard, cheetah and crocodile.

In contrast, Iona National Park in Angola has reduced wildlife populations and saw the encroachment of human populations into its sensitive habitats because of the recent civil war and subsequent lack of institutional and financial support. Increased human-wildlife conflict incidents are expected in Iona once biodiversity recovers and migration takes place from the Skeleton Coast and surrounding communal conservancies.

The link to the SCIONA Website: SCIONA