Lessons on the Community Conservancy Model for Wildlife Protection in Namibia

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/10704965221121026
• Published date: 01 December 2022
• Date: 01 December 2022
• Subject Matter: Articles

Article

The Journal of Environment &

Development

2022, Vol. 31(4) 375–394

© The Author(s) 2022

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DOI: 10.1177/10704965221121026

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Lessons on the Community

Conservancy Model for

Wildlife Protection in

Namibia

Michael Wenborn

1

,

Magdalena S. Svensson

1

, Stein Katupa

2

,

Roger Collinson

3

, and Vincent Nijman

1

Abstract

The growing human population in Africa is putting increasing pressure on habitats and

wildlife outside of protected areas. The wildlife conservancy model in Namibia em-

powers rural communities to decide on the use of wildlife. Namibia started to im-

plement the conservancy model in the 1990s and provides relevant experience from

which other countries can learn. We reviewed the conservancy model in northwest

Namibia to identify lessons for other countries. Our core work included case studies

on six conservancies. We conf‌irmed success factors for conservancies include: in-

vestment and revenues, strong governance and support from NGOs, as has been

identif‌ied in previous studies. We conclude that a comprehensive wildlife monitoring

programme is also a critical success factor. The wildlife monitoring method in con-

servancies in Namibia has been consistent since 2001, and the results show that

populations have recovered and stabilised, although there are ongoing risks to wildlife

and habitats in this fragile landscape.

Keywords

Community-based conservation, CBNRM, Africa wildlife protection, Rural livelihoods

1

Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, UK

2

Technical Advisor in Community-based Natural Resources Management

3

Independent consultant in Community-based Natural Resources Management

Corresponding Author:

Michael Wenborn, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Gipsy Lane,

Oxford OX3 0BP, UK.

Email: 16040486@brookes.ac.uk

Introduction

There is growing pressure on wildlife and habitats in sub-Saharan Africa because of the

rapid increase in human population and livestock, as well as droughts and other events

linked to climate change (UNCBD, 2020;WWF, 2020). This will continue to increase

local competition in rural areas for water resources, grasslands and other natural re-

sources (Hunninck et al., 2017;Chase & Landen, 2019;IUCN, 2020;Carpenter, 2021).

The need for the planning and implementation of wildlife conservation strategies that

focus on habitats and biodiversity outside of protected areas is therefore growing in

importance.

The community conservancy model on wildlife conservation in Namibia empowers

rural communities to decide on the use of their wildlife, for example, through joint

venture agreements with private investors and operators in wildlife tourism. This

provides opportunities for alternative livelihoods (Figure 1). The joint venture

agreements are set up so that an agreed percentage of revenues is provided to the

communities for wildlife protection activities (e.g. salaries of wildlife rangers) and for

benef‌it distribution to conservancy members (e.g. to repair local water points). The

model aims to increase the perceived value of wildlife and to raise the commitment of

local communities to wildlife conservation (Adamowizc et al., 2011;Cooney et al.,

2017;NACSO, 2021;Nilsson et al., 2016;Snyman, 2012). The model could be an

effective mechanism to include in national conservation strategies in many other

countries.

Figure 1. Main components of the wildlife conservancy model.

376 The Journal of Environment & Development 31(4)