This paper draws on interviews with Torra residents and other material to explore what is actually meant by the term benefit. The paper provides an account of some of the achievements and challenges facing conservancies and the Namibian CBNRM programme, through a discussion of the experiences of one conservancy, Torra, in the Kunene Region of north-west Namibia. The material presented here brings attention to the variety of ways in which benefits from improved NRM and capturing tourism revenue may be realised. In view of the fact that, to date, there have been very few tangible cash benefits available to community members through their conservancy programmes, the discussion centres on exploring the social development values of benefits.