An introduction to the Ministry of Environment and Tourism

 

The Ministry of Environment and Tourism (MET) is Namibia's equivalent of the Kenya Wildlife Service, or Zimbabwe's Department of Parks and Wildlife. The MET determines national rhino conservation strategies (amongst other things), and is responsible for developing community-based natural resource management policy and working with communal area conservancies to ensure that wildlife populations, and communities, flourish.

What is a conservancy?

 

A conservancy consists of a group of commercial farms or areas of communal land on which neighbouring landowners or members have pooled resources for the purpose of conserving and using wildlife sustainably. 

Conservancies in Namibia

 

For nearly 30 years, most commercial farmers have been allowed to manage and benefit from the wildlife found on their farms. Communal area residents, however, received few benefits from wildlife but have suffered the costs caused by problem animals such as elephants and lions. The Namibian Government therefore took action, passing legislation to allow communal area farmers to receive benefits from wildlife and other natural resources through the establishment of conservancies.

How communities benefit from conservancies

 

• Conservancies seek to increase local responsibility for and ownership of wildlife
• Rural residents benefit financially from wildlife through a range of activities, including harvesting quotas (agreed with the MET), 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
• Through conservancies, resources are more carefully managed. Game populations, habitats, biodiversity and the environment in general stand to gain from the establishment of conservancies

Neil Bridgland
Former member of SRI staff