Our Philosophy
The Life Through Wildlife approach to CBNRM addresses global underperformance by empowering communities and support professionals with the tools and knowledge necessary to maximize the value of wild resources, reinstitutionalize rural areas, and build long-term management capacity.
Africa is sitting on one of the most productive natural resources in the world—diverse megafauna that can cater to extensive and deep-pocketed tourism markets.
For example, there are private game farms that make 3 million US dollars per year, on a plot of land 0.3% the size of Kruger National Park. So why is it, then, that most rural Africans are subsistence farmers when they are surrounded by such incredible economic potential? Why, if these animals are worth so much, are their numbers declining? Why are most National Parks reliant on donations and federal funds instead of revenue?
In our Wildlife Economy and CBNRM Governance certificate program, Professor Brian Child aims to answer these questions and inform a future generation of wildlife policymakers. By focusing on local governance and economics, he hopes to rebuild a framework in Africa that aligns the interests of wildlife conservation with the interests of the people who live most closely with the wildlife.
The greatest densities of unique, charismatic large animal species exist in sub-Saharan Africa.
A map of countries where students on this course reside and work. These are also the countries with the highest global megafauna density, making this work crucial to conservation.
What do we teach and advocate for?
Community-Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM)
In many African countries, wildlife is the property of the state. Though this might be intuitive in a western model, it can be destructive in Africa. Why? The communities around wildlife have no incentive to protect them. When wildlife is state-owned, a leopard is only something that kills your valuable livestock, not a source of revenue to be protected. To further complicate the matter, regulations on wildlife are often made by uninformed and detached central governments, with little understanding of the on-the-ground dynamics of the wildlife.
Why is CBNRM desirable? It makes wildlife the property of the community. This means that the community can attract investors and build economic structures to profit off of their wildlife stock. Now, instead of poaching the property of an uncaring state, communities are incentivized to manage their wildlife resource in a way that is sustainable and provides for their livelihoods.
Public-Private Partnership (PPP)
Wildlife can be an incredibly productive resource, but it requires a lot of start-up capital to build a tourism industry. Public-Private Partnerships are the key to solving this issue and getting the engine of conservation running. A basic model is the Concession Conservancy. A rural community with a large tract of land and wildlife population can partner with a private lodge owner. The community gets a share of the revenue of the tourism venture, job opportunities, and community infrastructure (school building, road building, etc) while the private lodge-runner gets access to wildlife that can attract tourists and income.
Sustainable Use Tourist Hunting
Hunting often gets a bad rap in the West, as it is usually considered unethical and indulgent. However, hunting is likely the most ethical form of meat consumption, especially when compared to industrial animal farming. Additionally, it is by far the most viable way for Africa to fund its own conservation efforts, instead of relying on the whims of foreign donors.
So, why tourism hunting? It’s quite simple—it is a matter of value generated per animal killed. Rural communities are already poaching animals for meat. This practice is flawed, the animal is dying and producing nothing more for the community than the meat off of its bones.
However, bring in a private hunting lodge with wealthy foreign hunters, coupled with a Public-Private Partnership model. Now, a German is holding the gun and paying the community tens of thousands of dollars for the privilege of pulling the trigger. Sustainable hunting provides the hard cash to build schools and infrastructure for the community. It creates jobs for the community, making subsistence poaching obsolete and leading to fewer animals being killed.
What makes Life Through Wildlife stand out?
Teaching Practitioners
University education is important, but academics needs to be connected to on-the-ground implementation. Research informs practice, and practice guides research questions. Of more than 50 attendees, there are 8 university graduate, PhD, and Faculty Researchers. The rest of the course is comprised of a diverse set of policymakers, fund managers, and on-the-ground community representatives. As such, this course facilitates high-impact, vertically integrated, scientifically guided changes in wildlife management in Africa.
Linking Nations
The multinational composition of the students is one of the biggest benefits to this venture. Attendees learn not just from Dr. Child, but from each other, giving presentations and lectures on their own projects. This course could lead to, for example, Botswanans adopting Kenyan Carbon Credit model, or Kenyans adopting the Namibian sustainable hunting model. This course enhances a free flow of information and policy advice between African conservation efforts.
Online & In-Person Teaching
This course is run online for 6 months, with a capstone, in-person workshop of 2 weeks. Internet based learning is an excellent boon for wildlife conservation, as it allows many community representatives to engage in courses and content that their schedules and budgets wouldn’t otherwise allow. The final capstone event serves to facilitate networking, intercommunication, and development of co-operative governance and conservation projects between students that go beyond this course.
Acknowledgements:
At Namibia Chamber of Environment, Dr. Chris Brown has provided strong support and Henriette Krohne has provided incredible logistical help without which we could have floundered – organizing finances, purchasing supplies, organizing vehicles, etc.
Tanya Schemmer obtained excellent prices for accommodation, finding excellent rates in a highly unpredictable marketplace.
B2Gold donated ten days of accommodation at their wonderful education camp at Otjikoto conservation area, with Miya, Duane, AJ, and their colleagues participating and providing loads of advice, and help, not least organizing fascinating field trips to cattle and game ranches. Charles Lootz, General Manager & Director - B2Gold Namibia, spent a full day with us.
This effort would not be possible without the support from Jamma Foundation for the support of unfunded students and their airfares as well as teaching, while the funding of students by TNC and BioFund gave us the critical mass to make the training possible.
Morgan Hauptfleish at NUST for making just about everything possible through his enthusiasm and connections.
We also thank the farmers who have hosted us and taught us so much about wildlife, hunting, and livestock – Marina Lamprecht, Danene van der Westhuisen, Paul Smith, Stephan Michels, Hans Werner Erpf (Bunzi).
Malan Lindeque, Richard Diggle, Willie Boonzaaier, and their colleagues gave us an incredible set of presentations in an “introduction to Namibian wildlife sector” morning and Tapiwa Makiwa traveled to B2Gold to share his experience about the Community Conservation Fund of Namibia.