UN Division for Sustainable Development

Case Study Detail Record

Organization type:	Government

Name of Ministry/Agency:	U.S. Department of State

Country:	United States of America

Name of Focal Point:	Hiram Larew

Initiative Title:	Management of Natural Resources and Desertification in Africa: The Transformational Change in Namibia

Internet links:	http://www.usaid.gov/our_work/agriculture/landmanagement/pubs/nature_wealth_power_fy2004.pdf

Scope:	Regional: - Africa

Status:	Ongoing

Timeframe:	Start: End:

Lead Institution:	U.S. Agency for International Development

Stakeholders/Partners:	Government of Namibia and Community Conservancies

Relevent issues:	- Conservation of dryland vegetation - Strategies for effective resource management - Capacity-building for local governments and communities - Improving natural resource revenue investment and sharing - Sustainable tourism

Objectives/Challenges:

In Namibia, wildlife-based enterprises (mostly in the tourism sector) managed by rural Namibian communities contributed to significant increases in both rural revenues and large mammal populations. USAID’s “Life in a Finite Environment” (LIFE) program in Namibia was initiated in 1993 to help the Government of Namibia provide rural poor with economic opportunities through wildlife- and veldt-based enterprises. The establishment of Community Conservancies (cooperatives) that were democratically run and business driven was a primary purpose of LIFE.

Lessons Learned:

In this example, rural people built opportunities using innovative natural resources management technologies to combat desertification and mitigate the effects of climatic changes, while pulling themselves out of poverty and up the economic ladder. The increase in wealth accruing to Conservancies is attributable to the transfer of rights—and responsibilities—from the Government of Namibia to the Conservancies. Additional factors that contributed to success are the increased capacity of the Conservancies to negotiate profitable agreements with commercial operators or otherwise manage a business, and the ability of the members to make and respect rules about managing their natural resources base. The process of building these capacities strengthened democratic practices and enfranchised marginal members of society.

The capacity of the Conservancies to make and enforce rules and to participate in wildlife management as an equal partner with the government had significant impacts on wildlife numbers. While revenues have increased over time, so have animal counts.

Summary:

Key Results:

• Today, 50 member-managed Conservancies cover 14.4% of Namibia’s land surface, home to 12.8% of the population.

• The benefits increased from $3,983,430 in 2006 to an estimated $4,350,000 in 2007. The boosts in 2007 were driven by joint-venture agreements and new hunting concessions negotiated between the Conservancies and commercial partners. These negotiated commercial agreements reflected LIFE’s strong community business emphasis.

• Animal populations have increased for a number of large mammals (Elephants, Oryx, Kudu, Cheetah, Springbok, and Wildebeest).

• The proportion of women on the Conservancies committees grew from 30% to 37% between 2003 and 2006.