Community-based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) in Namibia – the Conservancy programme

1. Community-based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) in Namibia – the Conservancy programme

2. Background Prior to 1996, rural communities on communal land in Namibia had no rights over wildlife: • All wildlife was State property and was generally poorly managed • Local communities often suffered extensive losses as a result of wildlife • Hunting and poaching was rife and wildlife populations were declining • In contrast, commercial farmers have been entitled to utilise wildlife on their land and, thereby, benefit from it since 1975. In 1996, the Government of the Republic of Namibia introduced legislation to grant legal rights to rural communities over the management and utilisation of their natural resources, giving communal area residents the same rights over wildlife and tourism as freehold farmers This resulted in the development of Namibia’s Community Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) Programme

3. CBNRM in Namibia The CBNRM Programme is a joint venture between government, non-governmental institutions, communities, community-based organisations, the private sector and development partners which aims to: • promote wise and sustainable use of natural resources and encourage biodiversity conservation • devolve rights over and responsibilities for wildlife and tourism to rural communities, creating enterprise and income generation opportunities • encourage and assist communities to acquire skills to manage their area sustainably and actively pilot their own future These objectives are achieved through the formation of Conservancies… “Conservancies empower local people to make their own decisions about their own resources, while enabling them to benefit from these resources. Conservancies should be seen as creating an institutional infrastructure in helping to diversify rural economies. Through the conservancy system, my government has created an environment and an opportunity for natural resource based industries to develop” Dr Sam Nujoma, President of the Republic of Namibia

4. Rights of conservancies A registered conservancy, on behalf of the community it represents, acquires new rights and responsibilities with regard to the consumptive and non-consumptive use and management of wildlife: Consumptive uses include: use of game for trophy hunting, consumption, commercial sale for meat or capture for live sale Non-consumptive uses include: tourism ventures such as community-based tourism enterprises and joint venture agreements with private sector entrepreneurs

5. But first… the conservancy must be registered and gazetted.Legal requirements of conservancies: • Mapping of conservancy boundaries – clearly defined boundaries that are not in dispute with neighbouring communities 2. A committee – which is representative of conservancy members, to make decisions and facilitate communication to members, neighbours, partners, donors and investors 3. Development of a constitution – approved by members, including approaches on benefit sharing, employment of staff (to effect Natural Resource Management) 4. Management plans – including land-use planning – requires the acquisition of base information 5. Monitoring and management – to facilitate adaptive management

6. Mapping of conservancy boundaries Boundaries are a legal requirement for registration: Each conservancy must have a defined boundary that has been agreed by its neighbours

7. Committee and constitution A constitution that addresses sustainable use of resources and benefit sharing. Legislation requires: A committee representative of conservancy members. • Through the committee the community decides, for example: • How to manage and distribute conservancy-generated income in a democratic and equitable manner • How to use their wildlife resources (e.g. trophy hunting, live sale, meat) • How the management body should be structured • Exactly how to manage different resources in the conservancy • How representation and decision-making should be achieved

8. Management plans • Management plans are required to manage at least three things: • the conservancy as an institution, with its membership, committee, staff, equipment, money, benefit sharing as well as communications between everyone • the natural resources such as wildlife, water, and rangelands. Including, for example, quota setting, game water points, game introductions, problem animal management • the enterprises that result from the use of natural resources, such as tourism, trophy hunting and sales of craft.

10. Lodge sites for development Development of land use plans and zonation maps through participatory mapping. Land-use planning Competing land use activities take place within conservancies (for example, farming, wildlife, settlement, mining). Consequently, land-use planning is a key need. Appropriate tools are also needed to communicate the plans to residents, government and investors.

11. One of the most basic requirements for managing the wildlife in the region is a tool that will tell conservancies: • how many animals there are • where they are and how they move around the region • population trends of the various species over time Year 1 Year 10

12. Planning Undertaking Reporting GIS generated planning maps 5 million ha Routes planned from orthophotos Distributions mapped Populations estimated using spatial analyses Zonations derived from satellite images Count zones Route maps Gemsbok Distribution N/W Namibia Example: annual game counts To determine wildlife numbers, trends and distributions…

13. Grid Cell Date Species Notes East South Trend over MONTHS Eventually a map showing where each incident occurred Use 2kmX2km Grid (hand drawn or GIS) Trend over YEARS MONTHS Monitoring also includes, for example, monitoring incidents of poaching, problem animals, trophy hunting, fishing

14. Where are conservancies in Namibia? • Around 78,000 km2, representing 9 % of Namibia, now falls within communal area conservancies • Over 95,000 rural people live within conservancies; around 40% of them are conservancy members • A further 14 % of Namibia is protected under the state Protected Areas network, and 5 % is within conservancies on freehold land

15. Indicators & monitoring • Conservancy-level monitoring can indicate trends over time, and also over larger areas – local, national and regional • Several approaches are in place e.g. North-West game count, event book (annual audit)

16. Monitoring examples

18. Problem animal damage

19. Changes in Springbok densities in the North-West between 2000 and 2004 Changes between 2003 and 2004

20. Base maps Institutional aspects Annual audits record, for every conservancy each year, progress in many areas: These can be compiled to provide a national overview:

21. Committees Representing Diverse Communities >60 Communities mobilized into representative governance bodies

22. Advocacy on Conservation Policies/Legislation …”What our people want is to be involved in the decision-making process and to actively participate in decisions, which will ultimately affect them. They then will take ownership of these decisions and ensure that they are successfully implemented.” (extract from the Statement by his Excellency President Sam Nujoma on Sept. 26th, 1998) * Conservancy Association(s)

23. Community Camp Sites • Develop a central Reservation office • Develop ‘tourism routes’ • Standardize sites • Quality control

24. Joint-Venture Lodges • Joint-Venture Agreements • Identifying new locations

25. Marketing & Harvesting of Veldt Products & Craft production

26. Reintroduction & Marketing of Game • Create the right environment • Build and maintain releasing facilities • Have wildlife monitoring systems in place

27. Marketing of Trophy Hunting • Wildlife Management Plan • Quota Application & Approval • Hunting Concession Approval • Trophy Quality Monitoring

28. Conservancy incomes Incomes have risen from nothing in 1994 to over N$14 million in 2003. The graph divides the income into three categories: cash payments to conservancies, non-cash or in-kind incomes to conservancies, and incomes to CBNRM activities outside conservancies. Information prior to 1998 did not allow for income to be divided into these three categories.

29. Sources of income during 2003 All incomes are as cash except those listed as ‘Use of own game’ and ‘Meat distribution’.

30. Incomes earned by conservancies from joint venture tourism and trophy hunting, respectively, increased about nine- and five-fold between 1999 and 2003.

31. Incomes vary greatly between conservancies, both in terms of how much they earn and the sources of revenue. The histograms show how incomes have changed over the years in each area, while the pie diagrams show the different sources of income for each conservancy during 2003. Information is shown for a sample of conservancies

32. About N$6,353,000 of funds earned by conservancies was spent in 2003. Proportions of this money allocated to different categories of spending in all conservancies are shown in the pie diagram, while the histograms show patterns of spending for a sample of conservancies. Private sector and conservancy jobs are pooled in the histograms.

33. Estimates of economic benefits resulting from the CBNRM programme between 1990 and 2003, shown by the columns of annual values of net national income (NNI) and increasing wildlife stocks in north-west Namibia. The shaded area is the value of investment or spending each year on CBNRM. All values are adjusted for inflation and changing foreign exchange rates to be equivalent to the value of Namibia dollars (N$) in 2003.

34. Conclusions CBNRM and conservancies are an ideal mechanism to promote rural development because they: • bring new and potentially large sources of income to poor rural people • are excellent entry points for all forms of rural development because of the institutional mechanisms already in place • are excellent entry points for integrated land and natural resource management initiatives • promote good governance and democracy at local levels • offer entry points for capacity-building, empowerment and skills transfer • deliver real OUTCOMES to local and national development objectives.