How communities benefit from conservancies

Conservancies seek to increase local responsibility and ownership over wildlife. Rural residents benefit financially from wildlife and tourism through a range of activities. These include harvesting quotas agreed to by the Ministry of Environment and Tourism, trophy hunting, sale of live game and from tourism concessions.

Conservancies decide how to spend income from wildlife and tourism. They can pay dividends to individual households or use income for community development projects. Conservancies give communities new economic opportunities which can help them in times of drought. All conservancy members have equitable shares and the benefits provide incentives for people to manage the wildlife for the future.

Through conservancies, resources are more carefully managed. Game populations, habitats, biodiversity and the environment in general stand to gain from the establishment of conservancies.
 

Rights under the new legislation

The new legislation enables conservancies to:

• use, manage and benefit from wildlife on communal land;

• propose recommendations for quotas for wildlife utilisation and decide on the form of utilisation;

• enter into agreements with private companies and establish tourism facilities within the conservancy boundaries.

Registered conservancies will be given ownership over huntable game and game birds, being bushpig, buffalo, oryx, kudu, springbok and warthog. Applications can be made for permits to use protected and specially protected game. A conservancy which also registers as a hunting farm will be able to allow trophy hunting on its land.

Requirements for registering a conservancy

Once a community has decided it wishes to form a conservancy, it must apply to the Minister of Environment and Tourism to become registered. A formal application must be completed on forms which can be obtained from any MET office.

For a conservancy to be registered with Government, the following should be included in the application:

• a list of names of the people who are members of the conservancy committee;

• a properly drawn-up constitution of the committee which outlines the goals and objectives of the conservancy;

• a statement setting out the boundaries of the conservancy;

• other documents or information as required by the Minister.

Communities seeking to allow trophy hunting must apply at the same time to be registered as a hunting farm.

Conditions of acceptance

For the conservancy to be accepted, the Minister must be satisfied that:

• the committee represents the community living in the area;

• the constitution provides for sustainable management and use of game in the area;

• the committee is able to manage funds and has a method for equitable distribution to the community;

• the geographic area has been discussed with others in the area, such as neighbours and the Regional Council;

• the area is not part of a proclaimed game park.

Once the MET is satisfied that all requirements have been met, it will register the conservancy and declare it in the Government Gazette.

Conservancies and the MET
 

Although the community will have the responsibility and rights over wildlife in the conservancy, the MET has the legal responsibility for the nation's wildlife and must ensure that it is managed and used sustainably. The MET will, as far as possible, provide some logistical help in certain tasks, including advising on the drafting of a constitution or agreements with the private sector. Non-governmental organisations operating in an area can also be asked for assistance.

In addition to the constitution, conservancies should have a set of rules which spell out how the conservancy will operate. If there were no such rules, anyone could go into the conservancy and do whatever they liked. This would interfere with the aims of the conservancy. Conservancies can ask the MET to advise on developing its rules and wildlife management plan.

Not everyone in a communal area will belong to a conservancy. In an effort to give people outside conservancies some benefit from wildlife, legislation has made it possible for Wildlife Councils to be established. These Councils are only found in communal areas and will receive the revenue from wildlife located outside of conservancies. The councils will use these funds to develop projects within regions.
Differences between Conservancies and Wildlife Councils

Differences between Conservancies and Wildlife Councils

Conservancies and Wildlife Councils are two institutions for managing wildlife in communal areas, but have different functions. Here are some of the differences:
 

For further information about conservancies, contact your nearest Ministry of Environment and Tourism office.

Other information can be obtained from:

Directorate: Resource Management
Private Bag 13306
Windhoek
NAMIBIA
Telephone: +264 +61 +263131
Fax: +264 +61 +263195

Directorate: Environmental Affairs
Private Bag 13306
Windhoek
NAMIBIA
Telephone: +264 +61 +249015
Fax: +264 +61 +240339