Land In Namibia Research Articles

Community Conservation and Land Use in Namibia: Visions, Expectations and Realities

Since independence in 1990, a growing number of institutions and social groups have advanced diverse and often conflicting visions and expectations regarding the use of land in Namibia’s Communal Areas. The importance attributed to agriculture, livestock, conservation or tourism is intensely debated. This article will analyse these views and the policies being implemented, with a special focus on a relatively new actor: nature conservation, under the guise of Communal Conservancies, which grant the management of natural resources to local communities. Official policies and events on the ground are leading towards a growing privatisation or individualisation of land tenure and exploitation of resources, to commercialisation and to increasing difficulties for communal agriculture and livestock husbandry. Conservation is sometimes contributing to this process, as it is to an incipient view that minimises the importance of agricultural livelihoods at the expense of conservation-related incomes. The fact that Namibia’s land is mostly arid or semi-arid only adds to the perception of agricultural fragility. But this is far from a clear and linear path: official interventions regarding land use are not univocal, while local actors’ actions may work against the expected line. Conservation itself is not homogeneous in its discourse, programmes and effects, and it is also assisting communal resilience in some ways. Namibia provides an example of the difficulties in achieving a successful combination of conservation and agriculture but also of the implementation of policies that differ from those promoting large-scale farming and exclusionary conservation in many African countries.

Local perceptions of trophy hunting on communal lands in Namibia

Trophy hunting in Africa is currently under pressure as some countries explore various policies that aim to put a halt to an activity that many people in the Western developed world view as unpalatable or unethical. However, in the debate over trophy hunting policy the voices of local communities, who in many instances allow wildlife to persist on the lands they control because of the tangible benefits they derive from it, have been largely unheard. Here, we report on an opportunistic survey of 160 rural residents of Namibia from 32 communal conservancies that generate varying levels of livelihood benefits from wildlife uses, including trophy hunting. About three quarters of these community members were employed in some manner by the conservancy. We used a mixed methods approach to assess community members' perceptions on trophy hunting, the benefits it generates, whether it was “good” or “bad”, and how they would respond if trophy hunting were halted. 91% stated they were not in favour of a ban on trophy hunting, and only 11% of respondents would support wildlife on communal lands if a ban were in fact enacted. Most respondents (90%) were happy with trophy hunting occurring on communal lands due to the benefits it provides. These responses were consistent across respondent demographic categories, although those who stand to lose the most (i.e., those employed by or managing a conservancy), viewed trophy hunting in an even more favourable light. Our results suggest that in Namibia, a trophy hunting ban would be viewed very poorly by conservancy residents, and would seriously weaken their support for wildlife conservation. The imposition of trophy hunting policies by countries far from where rural land managers are conserving wildlife would not only restrict communities' livelihood options, but may have perverse, negative impacts on wildlife conservation.

Livestock Farmers Engage in Ecotourism as a Result of Beliefs and Attitudes Toward Wildlife on Communal Lands in Namibia

ABSTRACTAn individual’s decision to support conservation efforts can be affected by personal attitudes. We interviewed 100 indigenous livestock farmers on Ehirovipuka and ≠Khoadi //Hôas communal conservancies in Namibia. As conservancy support groups work with farmers, there is a need to understand what influences farmer decisions to engage in ecotourism activities for livelihood. We evaluated cognitive characteristics of farmers and their attitudes toward 10 species of wildlife. Farmers had negative attitudes toward predators, more positive attitudes toward meat-producing species and a hornbill (Tockus sp.), and moderate attitudes toward African elephant (Loxodonta africana) and black rhino (Diceros bicornis), which can cause damage but also attract tourists. We show support for a partial mediation model in which cognitive characteristics of farmers predicted attitudes toward predators and damage animals. The attitudes toward these species, in turn, predicted participation in the ecotourism industry.

Complementary benefits of tourism and hunting to communal conservancies in Namibia

Tourism and hunting both generate substantial revenues for communities and private operators in Africa, but few studies have quantitatively examined the trade-offs and synergies that may result from these two activities. We evaluated financial and in-kind benefit streams from tourism and hunting on 77 communal conservancies in Namibia from 1998 to 2013, where community-based wildlife conservation has been promoted as a land-use that complements traditional subsistence agriculture. We used data collected annually for all communal conservancies to characterize whether benefits were derived from hunting or tourism. We classified these benefits into 3 broad classes and examined how benefits flowed to stakeholders within communities under the status quo and under a simulated ban on hunting. Across all conservancies, total benefits from hunting and tourism increased at roughly the same rate, although conservancies typically started generating benefits from hunting within 3 years of formation as opposed to after 6 years for tourism. Disaggregation of data revealed that the main benefits from hunting were income for conservancy management and food in the form of meat for the community at large. The majority of tourism benefits were salaried jobs at lodges. A simulated ban on trophy hunting significantly reduced the number of conservancies that could cover their operating costs, whereas eliminating income from tourism did not have as severe an effect. Given that the benefits generated from hunting and tourism typically begin at different times in a conservancy's life-span (earlier vs. later, respectively) and flow to different segments of local communities, these 2 activities together may provide the greatest incentives for conservation on communal lands in Namibia. A singular focus on either hunting or tourism would reduce the value of wildlife as a competitive land-use option and have grave repercussions for the viability of community-based conservation efforts in Namibia, and possibly other parts of Africa.

Impact of Land Use Management and Soil Properties on Denitrifier Communities of Namibian Savannas.

We studied potential denitrification activity and the underlying denitrifier communities in soils from a semiarid savanna ecosystem of the Kavango region in NE Namibia to help in predicting future changes in N(2)O emissions due to continuing changes of land use in this region. Soil type and land use (pristine, fallow, and cultivated soils) influenced physicochemical characteristics of the soils that are relevant to denitrification activity and N(2)O fluxes from soils and affected potential denitrification activity. Potential denitrification activity was assessed by using the denitrifier enzyme activity (DEA) assay as a proxy for denitrification activity in the soil. Soil type and land use influenced C and N contents of the soils. Pristine soils that had never been cultivated had a particularly high C content. Cultivation reduced soil C content and the abundance of denitrifiers and changed the composition of the denitrifier communities. DEA was strongly and positively correlated with soil C content and was higher in pristine than in fallow or recently cultivated soils. Soil type and the composition of both the nirK- and nirS-type denitrifier communities also influenced DEA. In contrast, other soil characteristics like N content, C:N ratio, and pH did not predict DEA. These findings suggest that due to greater availability of soil organic matter, and hence a more effective N cycling, the natural semiarid grasslands emit more N(2)O than managed lands in Namibia.

Cost of carnivore coexistence on communal and resettled land in Namibia

SUMMARYHuman-wildlife conflict is detrimental to the conservation of threatened carnivores and the livelihoods of rural communities. This paper compares perceived levels of human-carnivore conflict experienced on five Namibian communal conservancies and four resettled farming areas. Factors explored include how reported depredation was affected by livestock husbandry practices, the perceived annual cost of depredation and the reported problem predator species. Of the 147 respondents interviewed, perceived depredation was greater than in previous studies; high perceived depredation was associated with greater rates of predator removal, increased ranking of predators as problems and increased predator sighting frequency. Small stock species were the most commonly depredated livestock. The most frequently perceived predators were: jackals on goats and sheep, wild cats on chickens, leopards on horses and spotted hyenas on cattle. The financial cost of this predation was US$508898, mostly attributable to cattle depredation, and agricultural training schemes recommending good livestock management may help reduce this cost. A move from small to large stock farming could be promoted in areas with an abundance of small- to medium-sized carnivores and a lack of large carnivores. Further incentives, such as meat provision and income from consumptive and non-consumptive tourism could ensure benefits outweigh costs of wildlife coexistence.

Determinants of Persistence and Tolerance of Carnivores on Namibian Ranches: Implications for Conservation on Southern African Private Lands

Changing land use patterns in southern Africa have potential to dramatically alter the prospects for carnivore conservation. Understanding these influences is essential for conservation planning. We interviewed 250 ranchers in Namibia to assess human tolerance towards and the distribution of large carnivores. Cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus), leopards (Panthera pardus) and brown hyaenas (Hyaena brunnea) were widely distributed on Namibian farmlands, spotted hyaenas (Crocuta crocuta) had a narrower distribution, and wild dogs (Lycaon pictus) and lions (Panthera leo) are largely limited to areas near source populations. Farmers were most tolerant of leopards and least tolerant of lions, wild dogs and spotted hyaenas. Several factors relating to land use correlated consistently with carnivore-presence and landowner tolerance. Carnivores were more commonly present and/or tolerated where; wildlife diversity and biomass were higher; income from wildlife was higher; income from livestock was lower; livestock biomass was lower; in conservancies; game fencing was absent; and financial losses from livestock depredation were lower. Efforts to create conditions whereby the costs associated with carnivores are lowest, and which confer financial value to them are likely to be the most effective means of promoting carnivore conservation. Such conditions are achieved where land owners pool land to create conservancies where livestock are replaced with wildlife (or where livestock husbandry is improved) and where wildlife generates a significant proportion of ranch income. Additional measures, such as promoting improved livestock husbandry and educational outreach efforts may also help achieve coexistence with carnivores. Our findings provide insights into conditions more conducive to the persistence of and tolerance towards large carnivores might be increased on private (and even communal) lands in Namibia, elsewhere in southern and East Africa and other parts of the world where carnivore conservation is being attempted on private lands.

Benefits of wildlife-based land uses on private lands in Namibia and limitations affecting their development

AbstractLegislative changes during the 1960s–1970s granted user rights over wildlife to landowners in southern Africa, resulting in a shift from livestock farming to wildlife-based land uses. Few comprehensive assessments of such land uses on private land in southern Africa have been conducted and the associated benefits are not always acknowledged by politicians. Nonetheless, wildlife-based land uses are growing in prevalence on private land. In Namibia wildlife-based land use occurs over c. 287,000 km2. Employment is positively related to income from ecotourism and negatively related to income from livestock. While 87% of meat from livestock is exported ≥ 95% of venison from wildlife-based land uses remains within the country, contributing to food security. Wildlife populations are increasing with expansion of wildlife-based land uses, and private farms contain 21–33 times more wildlife than in protected areas. Because of the popularity of wildlife-based land uses among younger farmers, increasing tourist arrivals and projected impacts of climate change on livestock production, the economic output of wildlife-based land uses will probably soon exceed that of livestock. However, existing policies favour livestock production and are prejudiced against wildlife-based land uses by prohibiting reintroductions of buffalo Syncerus caffer, a key species for tourism and safari hunting, and through subsidies that artificially inflate the profitability of livestock production. Returns from wildlife-based land uses are also limited by the failure to reintroduce other charismatic species, failure to develop fully-integrated conservancies and to integrate black farmers sufficiently.

Performance, management and objectives of cattle farming on communal ranges in Namibia

Heavy grazing of communal rangeland appears to be in conflict with the societal aim of conserving biodiversity. Understanding the grazing system in context is essential for intervention. One mixed and one pastoral system along a rainfall gradient on communal lands in Namibia were studied. Data on 224 calves were gathered from the life history data of 81 cows. Body measurements of 80 cattle were recorded. Fifteen households were interviewed regarding their cattle management practices. Age at first calving differed between the two systems, being 32 months in the pastoral and 61 in the mixed system. Calving intervals were shorter and the number of parities higher in the pastoral system (16 c.f. 27 months, and 3.0 c.f. 2.2, respectively). Cows in the mixed system were older (100 c.f. 60 months), and had better body condition. In the pastoral system, male calves were sold and females retained, while in the other, male calves were kept in the herd. In the mixed system, males provided draught power and their grazing resources were primarily threatened by cropland expansion. In the pastoral system, reducing head counts in order to diminish grazing pressure would require incentives and alternative options through changes in societal priorities and policies.

Effect of biodiversity on economic benefits from communal lands in Namibia

Summary 1. The conservation of biodiversity is increasingly justified by claims that human livelihoods are improved through its protection. Nature’s ecosystem services do indeed benefit people, but how necessary is a diversity of living things to provide these services? Most studies cited as addressing this question in natural systems do not actually quantify relevant metrics (e.g. species richness) and assess their relationship with services and/or economic benefits. On the other hand, numerous small‐scale experimental studies have demonstrated that more diverse systems do indeed tend to function better, but the relevance of these results to much larger, more complex socio‐ecological systems is unclear. 2. Here, we investigate how biodiversity affects the gains from two ecosystem services, trophy hunting and ecotourism, in communal conservancies of Namibia, an arid country in southern Africa. We used statistical methods to explicitly control for confounding variables so that the effect of biodiversity per se on financial benefits to local communities was isolated. 3. Our results show that biodiversity exerts a positive effect on the economic benefits generated from these two ecosystem services produced on communal lands in Namibia. The richness of large wildlife species is positively related to income derived from ecotourism and trophy hunting after statistically controlling for potentially confounding variables such as a conservancy’s geographic characteristics and human population size. 4. Synthesis and applications. Our results demonstrate that the conservation of biodiversity can indeed generate increased services from real‐world ecosystems, in this case for the benefit of impoverished rural communities in sub‐Saharan Africa. More such studies are needed from various ecological and socioeconomic contexts in order to boost the evidence base for positive effects of biodiversity on ecosystem services.

The livelihood impacts of the Namibian community based natural resource management programme: a meta-synthesis

SUMMARYCommunity based natural resource management (CBNRM) programmes aim to achieve the joint objectives of biodiversity conservation and improved rural livelihoods by providing incentives to sustainably manage relevant resources. Since 1998, more than 50 natural resource management institutions, known as conservancies, have been established in order to manage wildlife resources, on communal lands in Namibia. The national programme is often cited as a CBNRM success; however, despite its rapid spread, there are few systematically collected or analysed household-level data which demonstrate the long-term ecological, social and economic impacts of Namibian programme. A meta-synthesis was undertaken to determine the range of positive and negative livelihood impacts resulting from CBNRM programme activities in two key regions, and the factors affecting how these impacts have been felt by households or individuals. Impacts were categorized according to any changes in access to and/or returns from the five key assets of the sustainable livelihoods framework, namely financial, human, natural, physical and social assets. Positive and negative impacts were felt on financial, human, natural and social assets; only positive impacts were identified as affecting physical assets. Individual- and household-level impacts differed depending on the specific activities implemented locally and, according to the duration, frequency and timing of the impacts, the circumstances and preferences of households and their access to particular activities and consequent impacts. If a greater understanding of the extent and importance of different impacts is to be gained in the future, more rigorous and comprehensive data collection and analysis will need to be undertaken. Analyses will need to consider the whole range of activities implemented, both the benefits and costs associated with these different activities, and will also need to provide contextual information to allow the relative importance of impacts resulting from CBNRM activities to be better understood.

Application of a basin management approach to groundwater utilization in the Otavi Mountain Land, Namibia

The purpose of the paper is to provide an analysis of sustainability issues related to the practical implementation of the concept of basin management with reference to the Karst Water Management Body (KWMB) in Namibia. A river basin is regarded as an appropriate management unit and the concept of establishing basin management institutions was introduced to achieve the objectives of sustainable natural resources management in general. However, the karst aquifer is unique because it lies in the headwaters of a number of river basins and the management of this groundwater resource goes a little beyond the logic of water resource management as it is understood for surface water sources. In view of the unacceptability of the perceived top down management of water resources, a need was identified for a participatory approach to integrated groundwater resources management in the Otavi Mountain Land in Namibia. After consultations with the Government of Namibia (Government), the KWMB was established to assist stakeholders who obtained water for domestic use, mining and irrigation from aquifers in a karstified hydrogeological environment located in the Otavi Mountain Land in northern Namibia with the management of their water sources. The karst area has been declared a groundwater control area by the Government and provides the framework for efficient and sustainable management of groundwater resources. The eventual sustainability of a basin management institution depends on the justification for such an institution, the capacity of the stakeholders to drive the required activities, the resources at the disposal of the institution and numerous other factors beyond the control of the institution. The paper discusses the practical application of the principles and concepts of basin management, the challenge of stakeholder participation, the impact of Government policy and legislation as well as the sustainability of the basin management institution. The paper demonstrates that management of surface water basins and groundwater aquifers are different in nature and require different management approaches.

Economic Efficiency and Incentives for Change within Namibia's Community Wildlife Use Initiatives

Five community wildlife conservation and utilization initiatives, or conservancies, on communal land in Namibia were appraised to determine economic and financial worth. Conservancies are economically efficient and able to contribute positively to national income and the development process. They also provide a channel for the capture of international donor grants (wildlife non-use values) as income, and generate attractive financial returns for communities. Donor grants are very important catalysts in promoting land use change in conservancies. Ability to generate income from tourism is important. Flexibility and adaptability in design are key factors, ensuring effective rural development and conservation.

A Resolvable Conflict? The politics of land in Namibia

Journal Article A Resolvable Conflict? The politics of land in Namibia Get access A Resolvable Conflict? The politics of land in Namibia, by Donna Pankhurst. Peace Research Report No. 36, January 1996. University of Bradford, Department of Peace Studies, 1996. 164pp. £12.00 paperback. ISBN 1-85143-146-2. JEREMY SILVESTER JEREMY SILVESTER University of Namibia Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar African Affairs, Volume 96, Issue 383, April 1997, Pages 302–304, https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.afraf.a007845 Published: 01 April 1997