Protection of land is one of our planets most critical needs right now. Traditionally land protection is a role of governments. But in Namibia there is key player in land protection.
Namibia's community conservation allow land in the hands of communities to be utilized as conservation areas. Set aside not in the old way, not moving people out.
In Namibia these conservation areas are calledconservancies. They range in function, but they all have some conservation objective. And significantly, conservancies are all about the community.
These conservancies are not just a nice idea that has been tried here and there. It's a major effort. Just take a look atthis register [outside link to a pdf file]. It's clearly a big effort.
There are clearly many conservancies in Namibia. But perhaps they only conserve marginal areas devoid of wildlife? Wrong again!
Communal conservancies in Namibia protect a wide range of wildlife including some of the most iconic African species. These includeAfrican Elephants, Lions, a very important population of Black Rhino, cheetah and a number of other key African species.
For those interested in this concept, here are some links for further reading:
