The case study has been published in the book International Cases in Sustainable Travel & Tourism and can be purchased from Goodfellow Publishers. To receive an exclusive 10% discount on the book enter the code BESTENGP at checkout when buying directly from the Goodfellow Publishers website. Following the link you can access the free of charge Powerpoint presentation on community conservation activities in Namibia.

Synopsis and Learning Outcomes

The purpose of this case study is to provide insights into the strategies undertaken by the Namibian Government to use tourism as an incentive for local communities to coexist with wildlife, including predators. Its relevance is based on the types of incentives used and the level of stakeholders’ participation. The case study highlights the constitutive role of policy and policy alignment in Community Based Tourism programmes. Three core issues are discussed, namely: devolution of rights over wildlife and tourism to communities; establishment of tourism Joint Ventures; and the impacts of tourism at local, national, regional and international levels. To understand the context of sustainable tourism development, the case study examines theories relevant to the support and sustenance of tourism within local community contexts. Such theories include Common Property Resource Theory and Practice, Social Exchange Theory, Social Representations Theory and Community Participation Theory. Muller’s (1994, cited in Sharpley & Telfer, 2002) Magic Pentagon of Sustainable Tourism Development and Equity Theory are also used to put the case into perspective (see Giaoutzi & Nijkamp, 2006). The case highlights the achievements of communal conservancies, which include:

• empowering communities to make their own decisions regarding sustainable utilisation of their natural and cultural assets;
• providing rights and tenure over natural resources through the promulgation of a tourism policy to enable communities to earn an income and other related direct or indirect benefits;
• the accruing benefits from the allocation of hunting quotas to local communities and other commercial products derived from community forests;
• the exponential growth of conservancies which has increased opportunities for employment, training, capacity building and other economic prospects for the locals; and
• helping in tackling HIV issues during community gatherings by educating communities about the AIDS pandemic.

After studying the case study, learners should be able to:

1. evaluate the role of tourism as both a conservation and development tool in Namibia, particularly in relation to wildlife conservation and employment creation in communities where few alternative job opportunities exist;
2. assess the extent to which strong incentives can redirect community efforts to manage their natural resources in a sustainable manner to enhance their livelihoods;
3. discuss ways in which communities can capitalise on rapidly growing global tourism demands to boost tourism revenues and diversify their rural livelihoods away from primary traditional subsistence farming; and
4. provide insights with regard to benefit sharing and make feasible recommendations on tourism governance in the conservancy tourism sector.