Background

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Integrated approach to proactive management of human-wildlife conflict and wildlife crime in hotspot landscapes in Namibia

 

Namibia is blessed with abundant biodiversity, which includes the high-value species such as rhinoceros, elephants, lions and pangolins; some of which are endemic.   Sadly, the national biodiversity is threatened by two key threats, namely: 1) Human-Wildlife Conflict (HWC), which involves feline predators, crocodiles and hippopotamus; evident through incidences such as damage to crops and infrastructure, loss of lives or injuries to people, and livestock mortalities; and 2) wildlife crime (WC), notable through poaching, either through organized crime syndicates and incidental illegal killing for subsistence purposes, or retaliation, which results from HWC, to populations of high value species such as elephant, rhinoceros and pangolins.

 

The Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism (MEFT) has therefore received funding from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) through the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), to address this twin challenge of HWC and WC, through its Integrated approach to proactive management of human-wildlife conflict and wildlife crime in hotspot landscapes in Namibia (HWC-WC) Project. It is a child project under the World Bank-led Global Wildlife Programme (GWP), the global partnership on wildlife conservation and crime prevention for sustainable development.

 

This project aims to safeguard wildlife by incentivizing conservation through proactive management of human-wildlife conflict and wildlife crime, and delivery of wildlife-based benefits to rural communities in selected hotspot landscapes. 

 

To achieve this, it will adopt four complementary approaches to collectively address the twin challenges of HWC and WC in communal Conservancies and National Parks across three HWC/WC hotspot landscapes in Namibia

 

The first approach is centred on reducing, mitigating and preventing human wildlife conflict (HWC). The project will focus on rebuilding and strengthening the capacities of conservancies, communal farmers, and government agencies to more effectively plan for, manage and monitor HWC. 

 

The second approach is centred on combating wildlife crime (WC) and protecting wildlife populations. The project will focus on strengthening the capacities of anti-poaching units, and for science-based management and monitoring of populations of high-risk/high-value species.

 

The third approach is centred on generating economic benefits for communities from wildlife-related enterprises. The project will focus on supporting the development and operationalisation of wildlife-based Joint Venture (JV) enterprises in community conservancies, strengthening the capacities of local communities to support, service and obtain employment in these JVs, and diversifying income streams in community conservancies to help offset the ‘costs’ of living with wildlife. 

 

The fourth approach is centred on enhancing local and national coordination, cooperation and knowledge sharing in HWC and WC. The project will focus on helping to build an HWC-WC community of practice at the local, national and regional geographic scales.

 

 

 

The project hotspot landscapes are:

 

• North-Central Region (Etosha National Park and surrounding communal conservancies to the north and west)
• North-West (or Kunene) Region (Palmwag, Etendeka and Hobatere Concession Areas and their associated communal conservancies) 
• North-East Region (core conservation and multiple use areas of the Bwabwata-Mudumu National Park complex) 

 

4. Project Components, outputs and outcomes

   

Component 1: Management, prevention and mitigation of human-wildlife conflict (HWC)

 

This component aims to address the gaps and inefficiencies in the institutional capacity and resources available to mitigate, manage and prevent HWC at scale.

 

      Outcome 1: Improved capacities to prevent, mitigate and respond to HWC incidents,  

      leading to a reduction in the number of reported HWC incidents and an improved 

      response to reported incidents of HWC

 

      Outputs 

 

Output 1.1.	A national HWC information management centre and three regional HWC response management units are adequately staffed, trained and equipped to manage HWC information, and coordinate responses to reported cases of human-wildlife conflict in the hotspot landscapes.
Output 1.2.	Human-elephant conflict preventative measures are implemented in the hotspot landscapes to prevent or mitigate damage to infrastructure.
Output 1.3.	Human-predator conflict preventative measures are implemented in the hotspot landscapes to prevent or mitigate stock losses and injury/loss of human lives.
Output 1.4.	Monitoring of damage-causing lion and elephant movements, and targeted research on the efficacy of lion and elephant HWC mitigation measures, guides the ongoing development and implementation of local HWC management plans in the hotspot landscapes.

 

Component 2: Combating wildlife crime and protecting wildlife populations

The aim of this component is to enhance the capacity to protect wildlife populations and reduce incidence of wildlife crime, which is currently constrained by limited capacity, equipment, data and coordination.

Outcome 2: Strengthened anti-poaching capacities, and science-based management and monitoring of high-value/ high-risk species, leading to a reduction in number of wildlife crime incidents

Outputs 

Output 2.1.	Operational capacities of the Wildlife Protection Service (WPS) anti-poaching staff and anti-poaching units (APUs) are enhanced in the hotspot landscapes
Output 2.2.	Research and monitoring of high-risk, high value wildlife species, which guide the ongoing development and implementation of science-based management plans for the protection of high-risk, high-value wildlife populations in the hotspot landscapes

 

           Component 3: Building the wildlife-based economy to promote co-existence

At the moment, wildlife economy is weakly diversified, and too few communities are currently empowered to benefit from it. Therefore this component aims to build the wildlife-based economy in efforts to promote co-existence between human and wildlife in communal conservancies within the focal hotspot landscapes.

 

Outcome 3: Growth in the wildlife-based economy in the hotspot landscapes,  

            leading to an increase in income and benefits to conservancy members

 

Output 3.1.	Strengthened enabling environment for wildlife-based tourism, and related business enterprises, in conservancies in the hotspot landscapes.
Output 3.2.	Improved individual skills of conservancy members to obtain employment in wildlife-based tourism and related business enterprises in conservancies in the hotspot landscapes.
Output 3.3.	Opportunities to diversify income streams are developed and piloted in conservancies across the hotspot landscapes.

  

        Component 4: Management, stakeholder coordination and monitoring and  

        evaluation

 

        Given the current under-developed information-sharing and knowledge management   

        network for HWC and WC-related issues, this component aims to strengthen the 

        information sharing efforts on HWC and WC in the hotspot landscapes. 

 

       Outcome 4: Enhanced knowledge sharing in addressing HWC and WC in the hotspot  

       landscapes, leading to improved cooperation and coordination of effort between 

       stakeholders

 

Output 4.1.	WC and HWC knowledge sharing mechanisms are developed and implemented
Output 4.2.	A project-based monitoring and evaluation system, incorporating gender mainstreaming and social safeguards, is maintained