Growing the Wealth of the Poor - World Resources Institute

UPDATE: NAMIBIATorra Conservancy supported youth development programs andCONSERVANCIES INCREASE RESILIENCEThe expansion and success of conservancies as sources of ruralincome, empowerment, social cohesion, and institutional developmenthave increased the resilience of Namibia’s ecosystems and ruralcommunities to environmental problems like desertification as well asto the challenges of social and economic change.Greater Environmental Resilience■ The spread of conservancies means that over 14 percent of Namibia’sland mass now benefits from sustainable wildlife management.Reduced poaching and better management have increased wildlifepopulations over wide areas and helped restore historic game migrationpatterns (WWF et al. 2007:ii; NACSO 2006:25–29).■ Managing conservancy lands primarily for wildlife has reducedlivestock grazing in some areas, lowering the likelihood of overgrazing,which exacerbates desertification (Jones and Mosimane 2007:22).Greater Economic Resilience■ Greater job opportunities in tourism and related services have diversifiedlocal livelihoods, supplementing traditional income fromagriculture and livestock rearing. This has reduced vulnerability todrought, which Namibian dryland agriculture is prone to (Jones andMosimane 2007:3,6).■ Conservancy income has helped bankroll microfinance schemes thathave magnified the economic growth associated with the conservancies(NACSO 2006:54).■ The skills necessary to manage wildlife populations, attract andserve a tourist clientele, and distribute conservancy revenues fairlyare transferable to other business and social enterprises, openinggreater possibilities for small business development within conservancycommunities (Boudreaux 2007:15).Greater Social Resilience■ Conservancies build social capital by offering a platform for collectiveactivities that unite dispersed communities in common causeand for mutual benefit (Boudreaux 2007:3).■ Conservancy management committees provide a forum for participationand empowerment and a laboratory to develop representativeand inclusive local institutions whose benefits extend beyond wildlifemanagement into the provision of a variety of social services as wellas dispute resolution.■ Conservancy activities build a culture of learning and connectionrather than isolation, allowing rural communities to participate innational and global economies and cultures.paid for the maintenance of school computers. Tsiseb Conservancyhas started a microfinance scheme to encourage localenterprises. Soup kitchens and pensioners receive continuingsupport in Khoadi-Hoas. Many conservancies also make a contributionto the local traditional authority (NACSO 2006:52–54).SustainabilityA decade after the program began, many conservancies aremoving steadily toward economic self-sufficiency. By the end of2007 there were 16 conservancies covering all their operatingcosts, up from just 4 in 2003. Another 4 were paying asubstantial portion of their costs—as much as 85 percent(Weaver 2007). This sort of financial independence is a cruciallong-term goal for conservancies. Strong economic performanceincreases local buy-in to activities and bankrolls capacity building,which is one of the keys to a conservancy’s commercial andsocial viability. Wealthier conservancies, for example, havestarted investing in permanent staff to run daily operations.This increases the quality and consistency of conservancymanagement and ensures that institutional memory is retainedlonger than when conservancies were managed by a rotatingstaff of community volunteers (Jones 2007). By 2007, half ofthe 50 registered conservancies had employed some staff—including conservancy managers, administrators, and fieldofficers—although this was mostly within the conservancieswith the highest tourism and game hunting potential (WWF etal. 2007:113).Torra Conservancy provides an example of what these bodies arecapable of. In 2000, it became Namibia’s first financiallyindependent conservancy, covering all its operating expensesthrough conservancy income as well as paying out a surplusdividend to its 450 members (Vaughan et al. 2003:5). This waspartly made possible because Torra entered into a joint-venturearrangement with the private company Wilderness SafarisNamibia to run a high-end campground called Damaraland. Theconservancy collects 10 percent of the camp’s income.Together these joint-venture arrangements are the largestsource of revenue for conservancies overall, although only aminority of the conservancies have such an agreement in place.Currently, 16 formal joint-venture agreements exist, with 8more in development (Weaver 2007).36