IRDNC
Namibia is a conservation success story that has achieved growing rhino, elephant and lion populations since its independence in 1990. This is largely thanks to the stewardship of local people, who manage more than 90 community conservancies across the country. In exchange, the communities are granted legal rights over wildlife and to all the revenues generated locally by tourism and sustainable use. However, climate change and economic uncertainties are generating new challenges to this conservation model. In response, the local grassroots organisation IRDNC is working with more than half of Namibia’s community conservancies to strengthen their natural resource management, create and expand sustainable income sources, and further grow wildlife populations.
irdnc.org.na | Partner since 2023
Challenge
Namibia’s community conservancies have enabled the country to grow key wildlife populations over the past 25 years. However, climate change and global economic uncertainties are now posing new challenges to this proven conservation model, which grants communities legal rights over wildlife and to all the revenues generated locally through tourism and sustainable use. The need for conservancies to diversify their income sources became a focus of attention during the COVID-19 pandemic, when previously employed individuals and their families were forced to rely more heavily on natural resources to sustain their livelihoods, and compliance with conservation measures declined. In addition, more intense droughts have led to increased competition for rangelands, water and other resources, constraining many local communities’ ability to coexist with wildlife.
Response
Namibia’s conservation approach is centred on the conviction that local communities will protect wildlife effectively if given the means and incentives to do so. Integrated Rural Development and Nature Conservation (IRDNC) is a local grassroots organisation that has worked with this vision for 30 years, building trusted relationships with communities who live among valuable natural resources, from wildlife to forests, rangelands and indigenous plants. With our support, IRDNC helps 46 conservancies in Namibia to manage their natural resources in an integrated and sustainable way that provides long-term income for most local families and strengthens their resilience in the face of growing pressures.
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