Communal Wildlife Conservancies in Namibia

Namibia is one of few countries in the world to specifically address habitat conservation and protection of natural resources in their constitution. Article 95 states, "The State shall actively promote and maintain the welfare of the people by adopting international policies aimed at the following: maintenance of ecosystems, essential ecological processes, and biological diversity of Namibia, and utilization of living natural resources on a sustainable basis for the benefit of all Namibians, both present and future.".

In 1993, the newly formed government of Namibia received funding from the United States Agency of International Development (USAID) through its Living in a Finite Environment (LIFE) Project. The Ministry of Environment and Tourism with the financial support of organizations such as USAID, Endangered Wildlife Trust, WWF, and Canadian Ambassador’s Fund, together formed a Community Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) support structure. The main goal of this project is to promote sustainable natural resource management by giving local communities rights to wildlife management and tourism.

In 1996, the Government of Namibia introduced legislation giving communities the power to create their own conservancies. The legislation allowed local communities to create conservancies that managed and benefited from wildlife on communal land while allowing the local community to work with private companies to create and manage their own tourism market. As of 2006, there are 44 communal conservancies in operation, in which the members are responsible for protecting their own resources sustainably, particularly the wildlife populations for game hunting and ecotourism revenues.

USAID began its third phase of CBNRM program in 2005, which includes expanding community management to include forest, fisheries and grazing land. The third phase also puts an emphasis on community training for business and trade skills.

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