The NamibRand Nature Reserve is the largest private nature reserve in southern Africa, stretching across more than 215,000 ha. It includes four distinct natural habitats: dunes and sandy plains, inselbergs and mountains, gravel plains and sand, and gravel plains interfaces. Formed in the 1980’s from old livestock farms, the reserve comprises several famous ecotourism companies, research facilities and its sole environmental education centre – NaDEET. The NRNR and NaDEET work closely together to preserve the natural beauty of the Namib Desert, as well as to provide researchers and prospective nature conservation students the opportunity to study its inhabitants. 

Flora and Fauna

The extreme arid conditions of the Namib Desert make its flora and fauna some of the most fascinating oddities in the world. Every creature and plant that has survived in the desert has done so with an incredible adaptation mechanism, whether it is the thermal dancing of the wedge-snouted lizard, the intense smell of the Smelly Shepherd’s Bush to attract pollinating flies or the transparent body and webbed feet of the Namib dune gecko. Many species in the Namib Desert are endemic, or only found in one specific area of the world.

Probably the most famous species in the Namib Desert is Grant’s Golden Mole, a small blind mammal that “swims” through tunnels underneath the sand for its favourite food—termites! The Golden Mole is also able to change its body temperature to be similar to its surrounding temperature in order to conserve energy. Anyone wishing to know more about the unique Fauna and Flora of the Namib Desert should consult our own It’s Time to Identify, available here.