Conservancies in the Zambezi and Kavango regions remain overly dependent on trophy hunting, with limited progress in diversifying into tourism, non-timber forest products, or other value-added enterprises.
This was revealed in a report by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Natural Resources following its oversight visit to the Zambezi, Kavango East, and Kavango West regions from 11 to 15 August 2025.
The visit assessed the performance of conservancies operating under the Community-Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) programme and their contribution to conservation, rural development, and poverty alleviation.
According to the committee’s findings, conservancies in these regions remain at a basic level of development, with insufficient capacity to meet concession standards or to develop and implement professional hunting plans.
The report noted that the majority of conservancies derive most of their income from trophy hunting—a situation that limits community benefits due to weak concession management expertise.
“The conservancies have not sufficiently aligned themselves with new economic opportunities and products available on the market,” the report said.
It further highlighted that conservancies continue to operate under outdated management frameworks and have not adapted to changing environmental and economic realities. Governance structures are undermined by nepotism, tribalism, and weak management capacity, which further hampers progress.
According to the report, strategic areas such as concession management, wildlife utilization, and the broader tourism value chain were identified as urgently needing attention.
The report also pointed to persistent challenges, including escalating human-wildlife conflict, slow and inadequate compensation systems—limited mainly to elephants and buffalo—encroachment, land-use conflicts, poaching, and illegal timber harvesting.
“These challenges are undermining conservation objectives,” the report warned, adding that outdated frameworks for management, communication, and conflict mitigation have made it difficult for conservancies to adjust to new realities.
To secure their future, the committee urged conservancies to strengthen governance, embrace innovation, and diversify income sources.
It recommended exploring other economic activities such as sustainable forestry, ecotourism, value-added resource processing, and cultivation of high-value plants like the devil’s claw—a crop now being cloned by companies worldwide for its medicinal properties.
The report added that, despite current challenges, conservancies still hold the potential to promote self-reliance, enhance social cohesion, and drive local economic growth.
By empowering members to actively participate in decision-making and resource management, conservancies can remain vital instruments for sustainable rural development—provided they reduce their dependence on trophy hunting and embrace more diversified, adaptive strategies.
