CBNRM and landscape approaches to conservation in Kunene Region, post-Independence
We review how national post-Independence policy supporting Community-Based Natural Resources Management has played out in Etosha- Kunene, highlighting a new impetus towards a "landscape approach" for conservation in communal areas. Communal land immediately to the west of Etosha National Park is currently divided into a series of communal area conservancies, inhabited by pastoralist populations relying additionally on varying combinations of horticulture, gathering, hunting and wage employment. A new donor-funding trend is now noticeable towards recognising how landscapes with conservation and livelihood value overlap these areas. In the 2000s a Kunene People's Park was proposed to connect the Hobatere, Etendeka and Palmwag Tourism Concessions between Etosha Pan and the Skeleton Coast, although this was never formalised. In 2018 proposals for a 'People's Park' were reignited with international support by conservation donors and the British royal family. Present proposals for an Ombonde People's Park/Landscape currently comprised primarily of two conservancies on the western boundary of Etosha National Park are being implemented by the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism with support by multiple donors. We provide an overview of these conservation changes in Etosha- Kunene for the three decades since Namibia's Independence in 1990.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
CBNRM and landscape approaches to conservation in Kunene Region_post_Independence.pdf | 1.21 MB |