Indigenous Peoples and Conservation Organizations

The Ju/’hoan in Namibia 115
support. The LIFE Program played a key role in
capacity building by helping open lines of communication
within the community and between
the community and the government.
As the case study unfolds, lessons will emerge
that others can apply to similar projects elsewhere.
This does not mean that what happened
in Nyae Nyae can be replicated literally, as if it
were a master blueprint for game management by
indigenous peoples. Historical and cultural contexts,
environmental conditions, national policies
and legal systems, the mix of actors, and available
resources vary too widely for that.
Above all, indigenous communities are not all
alike. Nyae Nyae provides an environment in
which the conservancy idea may flourish. First,
the Ju/’hoan Bushmen are effective managers of
their natural resources. They know those
resources intimately, understand the past and
present ecological contexts in which the resources
exist, and have developed social systems to manage
them. At current population levels the
Ju/’hoan lifestyle is consistent with an increase of
wildlife in the area. The success of hunting as a
livelihood, in fact, depends on increased game
supply. Unlike more sedentary agriculturists, the
Ju/’hoan see wildlife not as a threat but as a necessary
element in their environment.
The Ju/’hoan community is also relatively small
and homogenous. Conflicts exist, primarily
between age groups and between members of
different n!oresi (the places to which people
belong), as well as with individuals seeking personal
gain; yet common goals, beliefs, and values
prevail. The community has maintained its cultural
identity despite the rapid changes brought
on by engaging in the political and economic life
of the nation state.
To better understand what is happening in Nyae
Nyae, this case study will proceed in three
stages. First, the environmental, cultural, and
legal context for game management will be
examined. This will be followed by a discussion
of how the idea evolved and took hold within the
community and the problems and opportunities
that have followed. Then lessons that have
broader application will be highlighted. These
lessons fall into three broad categories: the
necessity for an enabling policy environment and
the limitations of this particular system; steps to
take in strengthening local institutions; and ingredients
for effective partnerships, and the roles of
external facilitators.
II. An Overview
2.1 Land and Ecology
The Ju/’hoan once lived on a vast tract of land
that encompassed parts of Namibia and
Botswana, mainly in what is now known as the
Kalahari Desert (see map 7.1). The “Real
People” were able to collect food and hunt game
over wide-ranging areas (Marshall 1976).
Construction of a fence along the border between
Botswana and Namibia blocked migration routes
for game and divided the Ju/’hoan, who lost territory.
The Nyae Nyae area is now about 9,000
square kilometers (3,240 square miles) of mostly
semiarid tree-shrub savanna. Rainfall averages
300–500 millimeters per year but varies greatly
in both time and space. The mixture of clay pans
and nonporous calcrete creates a system of seasonal
pans and wetlands unique in the Kalahari
area. In years of good rainfall, the pans and the
large areas of calcrete fill with water in summer
and attract large numbers of water and wading
birds, including flamingos and pelicans.
Endangered wattled cranes, snipe, the rare slaty
egret, and many migrants from Europe are found
when the pans are full (Jones 1996a).
Vegetation is characterized by mixed broadleaf
and acacia woodland where the dominant species
include several types of combretum and the
weeping wattle (Peltophorum africanum). Other
species are baobab (Adansonia digitata), tamboti
(Spirostachys africana), marula (Sclerocarya caffra),
and mangetti (Ricinodendron rautanenii).
The area is home to a number of rare or endangered
animals. There is still a sizeable population
of most antelope species, as well as elephants.
All six of the continent’s predators and scavengers
live in Nyae Nyae, which stands out as
one of the last two refuges in Namibia for the
wild dog, one of Africa’s most endangered mammals.
There is a remnant herd of buffalo that was
cut off from its migration route to the Okavango
Delta by the Botswana border fence. Government
officials have caught and quarantined this herd
because of veterinary regulations. While the vegetation
in Nyae Nyae is ecologically balanced,
game resources are depleted and unbalanced.