Makuleke case presentation by Steve Collins - The African Safari ...

The Makuleke case
Presented by
Steve Collins

The Makuleke
Region
Makuleke Villages
Zimbabwe
Moza

The 22000 hectare Makuleke Region of the KNP
KNP
Fence
The Outpost
Luvhuvu
River
Pafuri River
Lodge
Pafuri Border
Moz/RSA

Background
! Lived in the Makuleke Region of the KNP from
about 1700 to 1969
! 22000 hectares at northern most part of Kruger
National Park (KNP) between Limpopo and
Levhuvu Rivers
! Rich abundance of Natural resources
! Removed by force in 1969
! “Dumped” in area outside the KNP in Apartheid
homeland about 70 km’s from the Makuleke Region
! Developed 3 new villages
! In 1996 they got our land back

The Win-Win Agreement
! After negotiating with SANParks the
Makuleke agreed to keep their land within
Kruger NP as a contractual park
! The settlement agreement created a Joint
Management Board - 50/50 with SANParks
! SANParks do day-to-day management
! The Community, through the CPA, have
commercial use of the area
– Hunting sustainably
– Tourism development with Private operators

The Joint Management Board
! The JMB is seen as an interim arrangement to
build skills – One day the community hope to
manage their land themselves.
! Work and make decisions according to a
Management and Development Plan
– Same standard as rest of Kruger
– Zoned areas for tourism use
! The JMB has not been without conflict and
problems

The Makuleke
Joint Management
Board

Negatives
Evaluating the JMB
! Initially a lack of respect from conservation
officials
! No plan to transfer skills to the community
! Status of JMB in terms of rest of KNP
management not clear
! Constant conflicts and differences
! SANParks not sharing information
especially in terms of Greater Limpopo
transfrontier park
! Initially there wasn’t a full time person to
work for JMB

Positives
Evaluating the JMB
! Forced a necessary relationship between the
CPA and SANParks
! Conflict was managed when a dispute was
declared wrt hunting and TFCA tourism
plans
! Gave the community leadership an
understanding of conservation management

Training of anti-poaching rangers

Organising for benefit sharing
Organising for benefit sharing
Without good governance at community level, benefit sharing
will be limited and conflictual.
! Communal Property Association – CPA (CPA Act/law)
– +/- 15 000 community members
– CPA is title holder of the land in the Makuleke Region
! CPA Executive (EXCO) – 8 elected members and chief
– Represents CPA in all business and land issues
! Implementation office
– Full time workers link to outsiders and organize the executive
! Development Forum
– A forum of community leadership to advise Exco on village level
development and benefit sharing
! Development Trust
– Administers the money we make and spend on projects and
running costs

Generating the benefits from the Conservation
land
! Conservation land use excludes mining, residence or
agriculture.
! Therefore tourism as main source of revenue.
! CBNRM is possible and they used hunting to generate
initial money.
! Money has been spent on:
– Ongoing organizational costs
– Electrifying 2 villages that did not have electricity
– Improving schools
– Organising Makuleke heritage functions and part funding of the
tourism and heritage centre in the village
– Feeding poorest families
– Building the Chief a new house and 4X4

Explaining the private sector contract

Tourism partnerships
! The settlement agreement says the process
must be an open tender one
! Concession agreements gives the CPA
– Build-Operate-Transfer arrangements
– 10% of turnover as lease fee or minimium
amount
! projected at R2 million per year
– Wage income for employees
! About 100 = R2.4 Million per year
– Money to cover security and land management

The Pafuri River Lodge
Wilderness Safaris

Benefit sharing challenge
! Benefit sharing can cause conflict
– Hopefully the structures and commitment to good
governance will overcome this.
! Investment in community development must
be done with support of local government
– Still is need to link into the Integrated
Development Plan, not do it alone.
! The Chief has accumulated an unfair share of
the benefits

The Outpost Lodge

Bring tourism and small
business to the village
! In an effort to increase the village level
benefits the CPA in partnership with
Wilderness Safaris and GTZ developed
– A village tourism heritage centre
– Hydroponic Fresh Produce facility
! Large scale agriculture developed with
agriculture partners
– Learnt the value of Public Private Partnerships

Finally
! The Makuleke model in not perfect but was the
first attempt to create a PPP where a community
successfully reclaimed conservation land.
! There was a lack of government support and lots
of cynicism about the model.
! Without the support of donors, consultants and
their business partners they could not have
implemented the settlement agreement.
! Dealing with village level poverty remains a
challenge but they have achieved more that most.
! The story is evolving.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION