In October 1963 a small scientific research station was established at Gobabeb (“the place of the fig tree”) on the bank of the Kuiseb River in the heart of the Namib Desert. The Desert Ecological Research Unit conducted work on the ecological functioning of the desert and built up a wealth of information so that, by 1990, the central Namib was described as “better known scientifically than any other equivalent area in Africa”.

1990 also saw Namibia gain independence, and DERU transformed into the Desert Research Foundation of Namibia, with the desire to apply the knowledge gained from the Namib to wise development and growth in this dry country. Some of the achievements towards this goal have been:
In June 1994, Namibia signed the international Convention to Combat Desertification (CCD). Namibia’s Programme to Combat Desertification (Napcod), a collaborative effort between the Ministry of Agriculture, Water & Rural Development (MAWRD) and the Ministry of Environment and Tourism (MET) was launched in the same year. The programme addresses the political, socio-economic as well as bio-physical aspects related to land degradation.
Napcod is now in its third programme phase and the consortium of the Desert Research Foundation of Namibia (DRFN) and Namibia’s Economic Policy Research Unit (Nepru), is implementing main components of the programme in support of the government initiative.  
Since 1993 DRFN has run an annual Summer Desertification Programme for tertiary-level students, a 10-week course where students tackle a real-life research project, come up with conclusions and incorporate their recommendations in the work practices of the involved parties;
At the request of the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Rural Development, DRFN established a Water Desk in 2003 to work with government on water-related issues;
A Kuiseb River Basin Management Committee was established in 2003 as a result of the work of the ELAK programme, a DRFN initiative. (ELAK = Environmental Learning and Action in the Kuiseb.) This is Namibia’s first case of management of an entire river basin being integrated through one committee.
Since 1998, Gobabeb has been jointly managed and run through a joint venture of the DRFN and the Ministry of Environment and Tourism.
Gobabeb has been officially recognized as a Centre of Excellence for training, research, appropriate technology and networking, by the SADC Environment and Land Management Sector;
Gobabeb is identified as an official site for Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER), and is the country’s first recognized site in the Environmental Observatories Network of Namibia (EONN).