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Can indigenous people protect their environment and, at the same time, develop strong businesses that help diversify their livelihoods and alleviate poverty? In Namibia, this paper argues, the answer is yes. Through community-based natural resource management (CBNRM), it describes how Namibians who form conservancies now have legal rights to manage wildlife and benefit from tourism.

With these secure rights, and with help from NGOs and the government, the paper argues that something extraordinary is happening: wildlife numbers, which were decimated by war and poaching, are rising, and ecosystems are rebounding. Namibians also now have the chance to build businesses based on eco-tourism and related activities, and these businesses are helping to improve the lives of conservancy members.

The author suggests that Namibia’s experience with CBNRM may provide a strong model for other countries: devolving secure legal rights to local people has gone a long way towards promoting positive outcomes both in terms of conservation and economic development.  However, while it is among the best examples of CBNRM in Africa, the Namibia program has some weaknesses. These include:

• no legal right for conservancies to exclude unwanted/harmful outsiders
• a confused process for resolving conflicting land use claims
• an institutional environment that imposes unnecessary costs on entrepreneurs and small businesses

By addressing these weaknesses and continuing to support capacity-building efforts for conservancies, the paper concludes that Namibian government and the international donor community could further strengthen this enterprise-based solution to poverty in Africa.

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