Although the long-term survival of protected areas is widely believed to depend on them benefiting local communities, it is unusual for communities to be given major tourism opportunities in national parks. The recent allocation of tourism concessions to community conservancies in Namibia has passed with little comment and should be recognized more widely as a major milestone in Namibia's support for community-based conservation.
The development of the Caprivi Nature Park provided the first impetus towards community benefits from protected-area tourism in Namibia. At independence in 1990 local people (about 6,000 of whom lived in the Park) agreed that it should be upgraded to the Bwabwata National Park only if they were to be the primary beneficiaries. The Palmwag, Etendeka and Hobatere concession areas in Kunene Region had also been designated for conservation by traditional authorities shortly before independence and, after communal conservancies were established under the Nature Conservation Ordinance Amendment of 1996, it was agreed that benefits should go to adjoining conservancies, although government retained responsibility for management.
A draft policy on concessions in state protected areas was developed by the Ministry of Environment and Tourism during 2004–2005 and approved in 2007. This recognized that one of the main reasons for giving out tourism concessions was to share benefits with park residents and neighbouring communities. Three concessions had already been allocated in Bwabwata before the policy was approved: a hunting concession with 50% of the income going to park residents, and two camp-sites.
The first tourism concessions under this policy were awarded between 2008 and 2010, including two sites in the Hobatere concession area (one with traversing rights in Etosha National Park), one in Etendeka, one in Bwabwata National Park and one in Khaudum National Park. Tourism operations in these concessions were to be managed by private-sector partners (existing operators in two cases and new operators in the others). Typically 75% of the income from the operators goes to the conservancies holding the head concession contract, with the other 25% going to the Namibian government.
Unfortunately these were awarded as Namibian tourism was suffering from the global economic crisis and so the private-sector partners failed to develop three of the sites and another was delayed because of gold exploration next to the lodge site. Only Etendeka remained a viable prospect, and even there the development of a new lodge was considered too high a risk, and so the existing facility was upgraded with funding from the African Safari Lodge Foundation and Millennium Challenge Account–Namibia. Development of the other sites is now underway, thanks in part to the provision of 49% matched funding by Millennium Challenge Account–Namibia and the improved financial climate for tourism.
In July 2011 three conservancies were given tourism rights over the Palmwag concession, which forms the core of Africa's largest unfenced rhino population. Wilderness Safaris, which had previously held the concession, now became sub-concessionaire for the existing Desert Rhino Camp and a new camp, and another operator took over the existing Palmwag Lodge.
A new set of concessions, awarded in October 2013, included two sites in the Skeleton Coast National Park, two additional sites in Bwabwata National Park and one in Mamili National Park. Two conservancies on the northern boundary of Etosha National Park were given private gates into the Park and exclusive traversing rights, greatly enhancing the value of tourism facilities on the Park boundary. Three of these conservancies have existing private-sector partners and the others will need to go through a competitive tender process to find investors.
The new concessions should generate c. 250 new full-time jobs for local people and up to NAD 5 million (USD 500,000) per year in additional income to communal conservancies. Approximately 75% of this typically goes to supporting operations, including community game guards, and the rest is distributed as benefits in cash or in kind to conservancy members.
These new concessions will further strengthen Namibia's communal conservancies, generally acknowledged to be the most successful example of community-based natural resource management in Africa. This is timely as the concessions in the Skeleton Coast National Park and Palmwag Concession Area will provide additional income to conservancies that have so far provided effective protection for the largest free-ranging black rhino population.
