commercial conservancies, covering an area of around four million hectares. These commercial conservancies include 900 farms and make up 42% of total conservation areas in Namibia.

In 1995, the post-independent government laid out a set of progressive access rules for communal lands.<sup>1</sup> Under a new ‘Policy on Wildlife Management, Utilization and Tourism in Communal Lands,’ _communal_ conservancies or areas where communities could economically exploit and gain from wildlife resource management were created (Jones and Murphree 2001). The first communal conservancy, the Torra Conservancy, was created in 1998. Several others have since been established, resulting in 29 registrations by 2003 and encompassing a total area of more than 74,000 square kilometers of wildlife habitat.

Community conservancies complement the ecosystem and biodiversity benefits provided by Namibia’s protected area system. Namibia has a total area of 110,000 square kilometers designated as proclaimed state land for conservation. Out of the 29 registered conservancies, 17 of these either border or are located between conservation areas. This implies an additional 47,515 square kilometers of land adjacent to protected areas for cooperative conservation management. Wildlife, as a result, is presented with more opportunities for mobility and flexibility between seasons. This is of particular significance during times of drought or poor rainfall distribution.

So far, few studies have quantitatively assessed the impact of Namibia’s community programs. However, Brian Jones (1999b), in a review article of community conservation in Namibia, is able to provide detailed anecdotal evidence. He concludes that conservancies have had a positive impact on natural resource stocks. For example, wildlife numbers in the Kunene region improved significantly through the late 1990s. Poaching appears to have declined in Kunene as well as parts of Caprivi. In terms of welfare benefits, Jones determines that communities have benefited in cash and kind. These rewards accrue at the community-level as well as household level. For example, at the end of 1998, the Torra conservancy had gained some $40,000 from profit-sharing agreements with a tourist lodge. Meat distribution is another important benefit. Other monetary revenues include cash for services to lodges, bed-night levies, wages for guards and other employment, and income from sale of skins (Jones 1999b).

Barnes and others (2002) analyze the financial and economic returns to investments in five conservancies, including some studied here. Several years of financial records and future conservancy management plans were combined into 10 year cost-benefit models, measuring the merits of conservancy investment from the perspectives of the project, the national economy, and the communities themselves. The results showed that, at least collectively (at the conservancy level), communities which invest in conservancy development can expect high returns on their investment. The study did not examine the distributional patterns associated with, or planned for, these returns.

> 1 Communal land refers to areas where property is commonly held and with some form of Traditional Authority in place. However all communal land in Namibia belongs to the state.

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