The paper assesses the potential of natural and cultural heritage for interpretation in the Namib Desert and gives examples for its implementation. The authors demonstrate that environmental education and heritage presentation can help resolve resource and land use conflicts among the different stakeholders within Namib-Naukluft Park. Economic development and cultural regeneration as possible benefits of integrating local communities into different concepts of heritage presentation, environmental education and nature conservation are analysed through a case study of the indigenous Topnaar people living in the Park.