Community Conservancies: Paying Locals to Protect Wildlife

For much of the twentieth century, conservation often meant fencing people out of parks. Many communities saw wildlife as a threat to crops and livestock, not an asset. An alternative approach gives communities rights and income from wildlife.

Namibia’s model

In 1996, Namibia passed laws allowing rural communities to form communal conservancies. Registered conservancies gain rights to manage and benefit from wildlife on their land, including:

• Tourism partnerships with lodges.
• Trophy hunting under quotas, a controversial source of income.
• Sustainable use of plant products and meat.

Namibia now has dozens of conservancies covering a large share of the country. Populations of species such as elephants, lions and the rare desert-adapted black rhino recovered in many areas.

Why it works

• Property rights: communities benefit directly, so they have an incentive to protect wildlife.
• Local knowledge: communities help monitor animals and report poachers.
• Income diversification beyond farming.

This reflects ideas from economist Elinor Ostrom about communities governing shared resources.

Kenya and elsewhere

Kenya’s northern rangelands conservancies and other African programmes follow similar ideas, combining livestock herding with wildlife tourism.

Challenges

• Fair sharing: benefits may go to local elites rather than the poorest.
• Dependence on tourism, which collapsed during the pandemic.
• Trophy hunting controversy: some see it as essential funding, others as unethical.
• Human-wildlife conflict remains.

India

India’s Forest Rights Act, 2006 recognised forest-dwelling communities’ rights over land and forest resources. Community-managed forests and eco-development committees near reserves share some of these ideas.