Samantha Matjila

Samantha Matjila is a senior marine project coordinator at Namibia’s prominent NGO, the Namibia Nature Foundation, and will be pursuing an MPhil in Conservation Leadership. With over seven years of experience in marine conservation, and a keen interest in Marine Protected Area Management, she collaborates with the Namibian government to shape Blue Economy Planning. Through this work, noteworthy achievements include leading a 98% reduction in seabird by-catch in Namibia’s commercial hake fishery in 2021.

Samantha advocates for inclusive conservation narratives and aims to nurture the next generation of marine community leaders, focusing on sustainable projects for poverty alleviation and climate change mitigation while addressing policy gaps in conservation.