Since 1992, the U.S. Agency for International Development has supported the development of community structures to conserve and profit from Namibia's biologically rich environment. These conservancies, which are home to almost 100,000 Namibians, are empowered to manage wildlife and other natural resources to generate income and employment for rural communities. They have their own constitutions, policies and procedures, and management plans. And as this article describes, many of them are on the way to profitability and self-sufficiency—or are already there.

Kristina Stefanova is deputy managing editor of the USAID publication Frontlines.

Namibia, a large, arid country in southwestern Africa, has a democratic government, relatively good infrastructure, and abundant natural resources. While mining, fishing, and tourism fuel the economy, most people eke out a living from subsistence agriculture and what amounts to the exploitation of natural resources. Interestingly, tourism accounts for about 10 percent of Namibia's gross domestic product and is a significant contributor to rural employment and income.

Namibia is the world's first country to incorporate environmental protection into its constitution. Article 95 provides that "The State shall actively promote and maintain the welfare of the people by adopting, inter alia, 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." Further, Article 91 states that an ombudsman will be responsible for investigating complaints "concerning the overutilization of living natural resources, the irrational exploitation of nonrenewable resources, the degradation and destruction of ecosystems, and failure to protect the beauty and character of Namibia." Today, some 14 percent of the country is covered by protected areas. As more land is protected, it becomes increasingly important to help rural communities living either within or near the conservation areas to profit from protecting the land and its resources.

BENEFITS FROM CONSERVANCIES

Since 1992, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), through its mission in Namibia, has supported the development of community structures to conserve and profit from the biologically rich environment. To date, USAID has invested almost $40.3 million in this program—which was matched by an even larger sum from private investors and other donors through 2004.

In 2005, USAID funded the third phase (2005-2010) of the Community-Based Natural Resources Management (CBNRM) program, which is being implemented by a consortium led by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in partnership with the Namibian government and a network of local nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). The CBNRM program helps the formation and development of communal conservancies that are empowered to manage wildlife and other natural resources to generate income and employment for rural communities. It also promotes the integrated management of all communally owned resources in the conservancies. These resources are managed through different pieces of legislation that ensure compatibility. For example, land legislation ensures that conservancy management plans are not contravened during the processes of land allocation and administration.

Members from each conservancy elect a committee to oversee the development and management of communal resources. The committee includes both men and women from the communities, thus giving them a voice on local governance decisions. The community representatives who serve on the committees report back to their communities at various meetings and often invite local government representatives to share information. Only those communities that receive wildlife quotas report to the national government on the utilization of the quotas.

"Given their structural organization, conservancies are great avenues through which we can get out the word on HIV/AIDS and civic education in rural areas," says Tina Dooley-Jones, USAID's director of technical programs in Namibia.

Conservancies earn significant income by entering into joint ventures with private investors to establish safari lodges or by negotiating trophy-hunting concession agreements. Individual members also earn money from making and selling arts and crafts. Except for such personal income, the earnings of the conservancies are pooled. A portion of the conservancy income goes toward community projects such as schools, clinics, and roads. For example, in 2003, Torra Conservancy contributed more than $2,000 toward the renovation of their local school and bought a photocopier for the school. It also contributed about $1,000 to their local cr�che—a day nursery. In 2003, Khoadi Hoas Conservancy contributed more than $3,000 to their two local schools and provided diesel fuel to farmers to pump water for their own livestock and for elephants. In 2004, Nyae Nyae Conservancy provided funds for waterpoints maintenance and protection against elephants, in order to secure water for both human and wildlife consumption. The remaining funds in these accounts generally were distributed to the individual residents as a dividend of conservancy membership.

Under its 2005-2010 strategy for Namibia, USAID is expanding from conservancy wildlife management to community oversight of a broader set of natural resources, including forests, fisheries, and grazing land. It is also emphasizing business development skills and training projects for income-earning activities.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Namibia's 31 registered conservancies earned $2.35 million in 2004, compared to nine years earlier in 1995, when their earnings were less than $100,000. Four of the conservancies are now financially self-sustaining, while six more are expected to earn profits by 2006. Although 11 of the conservancies had earned no income by the end of 2003, it was largely because they were newly registered and were still developing their enterprises. The remaining conservancies were at different stages of development and are making minimal contributions to their operating costs, including conservancy staff salaries.

Almost 100,000 Namibians reside in conservancies, and some 3,800 people are employed as game guards, hunters, artisans, and customer service personnel at lodges and campsites. Conservancies are self-governing entities having their own constitutions, policies and procedures, and management plans. Individual conservancy residents are subject to customary law under their respective traditional authorities.

The registered conservancies protect some 8 million hectares of communal land, which is in addition to 11.2 million hectares already protected by the government. According to Gary Newton, the director of USAID's mission in Namibia, "By the end of our support to Namibia's conservancies in 2010, some 18 percent of Namibia's land mass will be under a sustainable system of natural resource management, and biodiversity will have been greatly enhanced."

Torra Conservancy, the first to become self-sufficient, distributed about $75 to every conservancy member in 2003—equal to half the average annual incomes. However, no cash distributions were made in 2004. Instead, the conservancy bought two vehicles, one of which it is using as an ambulance to transport sick people needing advanced medical care to a hospital that is about 300 kilometers away from the conservancy. The conservancy also provided cash compensation of about $16,000 to local farmers who lost livestock to predators. Similar compensation schemes are being undertaken in at least five other conservancies.

In 2004, the Torra Conservancy was one of six winners of an international prize awarded by the United Nations Development Program. This year, the Damaraland Camp, a safari lodge located within the conservancy, won the 2005 Tourism for Tomorrow Conservation Award at a Global Tourism summit—an award that recognizes the world's best practices in responsible tourism.

For 2005, Torra Conservancy has allocated resources to three major projects. The first is a campsite construction estimated at $50,000 that is expected to create 10 to 15 additional jobs for local community members. The second effort is a garden project costing $20,000 that will produce paprika and citrus fruits on communal land for commercial sale and vegetables for local consumption. The vegetables will be supplied free to elderly and sick people, with any remainder sold to the community to recover costs. This project is also soliciting additional support from the Namibian government under the Green Scheme implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture, Water, and Forestry. The third project involves construction of a new cr�che at $6,500.

INCREASED WILDLIFE POPULATIONS

Wildlife in Namibia suffered heavy losses from poaching until the mid 1990s. Since then, poaching has declined immensely, largely due to the work of community game guards and to the increased perceived value with which communities view wildlife. As a result, wildlife is coming back into the conservancies. There are now more elephants, oryx, buffalo, Hartmann's zebra, springbok, and lions than ever before in modern times. Namibia also has the world's largest free-roaming population of black rhinos, and their numbers have doubled in the northern Kunene region over the last 12 years. The country is also home to 2,500 cheetahs, the world's largest population of the big cats.

"Game donations, primarily from private farms and the government, have helped conservancies increase wildlife populations and reflect a growing confidence in the ability of the conservancies to be good shepherds of the environment," says Tina Dooley-Jones.

The project is successful, she says, because "it hits the governance aspect—we are working with rural people who politically could be extremely strong when it comes to their local governance and the use of their resources. It also touches upon biodiversity and conservation. People won't conserve or sustainably use natural resources unless they can see the benefit of conservation. And, of course, there's the livelihoods aspect. There, people may have absolutely no other source of income or very few alternative sources of income. So this is a very tangible poverty alleviation program."