Beyond Protected Areas: People, Parks and Progress in Southern Africa

With landscapes as beautiful and varied as the Kalahari desert, the Okavango delta, the spectacular Drakensberg mountains and the Victoria Falls as well as hundreds of wildlife species, it is no wonder that southern Africa has numerous national parks. In fact over one million square kilometres - more than twice the size of Sweden - are officially recognised as protected. Protected areas, including national parks, botanical reserves and gardens, sanctuaries and safari areas comprise over 15% of the total land area of the region - well above the UN recommended minimum of 10%. Botswana alone has set aside 39% of its land for conservation.

The region has some of the world’s largest protected areas such as · Botswana’s Central Kgalagadi Game Reserve, some 52,800 km2 - an area larger than Switzerland; · Namibia’s Namib-Nauklauft Park (49,768 km2); and · Kafue National Park, Zambia, which is 22,400 km2 - more than two and a half times the size of the USA’s largest national park, Yellowstone.

No.8 No.8 Protected areas have a significant role in — - - · ensuring the survival of a large variety of species (IUCN estimates that over 90% of southern Africa’s mammal, amphibian and reptile species are represented in protected areas in the region); · providing natural resources such as firewood, fodder and meat, which can be harvested sustainably; · providing recreational space and generating funds through tourism; and · providing valuable ecosystem services such as soil conservation, watershed protection etc.

History and challenges

The first protected areas were lands rich in wildlife set aside by colonial governments in the early 20th century. Later game reserves were set up in areas with low agricultural potential such as largely infertile regions and tsetse fly infested areas. From the beginning, there were tensions between local inhabitants - who had depended on harvesting natural products such as wood, meat and medicines from the very areas that had been appropriated for protected areas - and national park administrations. This was made worse in some areas by governments ordering people to move out of areas set aside for

FACT SHEET FACT SHEET biological preservation.

Apart from the conflicts between staff and local residents, several other problems with the system of protected areas have become apparent —

· Although African parks are huge by international standards, they may not be sufficiently large to encompass the territories of some mammals, such as lion, elephant, cheetah and wild dog. · Some parks do not encompass complete ecosystems, such as Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park which is cut off from river valleys and perennial water. · Protected areas in the region were originally set up to preserve game so not all habitats are represented in southern Africa’s national parks. · Some parks, such as South Africa’s Kruger Park, are ecologically isolated and their wildlife populations are at risk from inbreeding. The black rhino population in southern Africa has declined to a level where no single wild population is large enough to ensure sufficient genetic diversity. · All African national parks suffer from a severe lack of human and financial resources ResourceAfrica ResourceAfrica to the extent that most are managed and protected ineffectively (see figure right). · In the past 100 years, the population in southern Africa has increased ten-fold and population pressure on land has increased proportionally. Having lost their rights to harvest legally the natural resources they need, rural people often resort to ‘stealing’ these resources, sometimes threatening the Beyond Protected Areas: People, Parks and Progress in Southern Africa Beyond Protected Areas: People, Parks and Progress in Southern Africa existence of the wild species on which they depend. Building on national parks : community-based wildlife management Protected areas obviously play an important part in biodiversity conservation - but there are problems with relying on national parks as the only way of conserving wildlife in southern Africa. Rural people need their natural resources to survive and develop. For most rural Africans wildlife is a nuisance: lion and leopard prey on their livestock and elephant and buffalo trample their crops, often destroying their only source of subsistence and income in the process. Elephant also threaten people’s lives - in 1994 a Zimbabwean national newspaper reported that over 100 people had been killed by elephant or buffalo in one district alone since 1980. One way of solving these problems is through community-based wildlife management programmes which are springing up all over southern Africa. These programmes enable rural people to manage their wildlife legally so that they can once again harvest wild production while still contributing to conservation. In many cases the programmes have created jobs and cash for rural communities as well as providing them with natural resources for food, fuel and medicines. It has also resulted in a fundamental change of attitude among rural residents, many of whom now see wild animals as their partners in development. A good example of community-based wildlife conservation and rural development is Zimbabwe’s Communal Areas Management Programme for Indigenous Resources (CAMPFIRE). Communal farmers design and implement their own wildlife management systems assisted by NGO’s and government departments. Hides, meat, trophies, crocodile eggs, caterpillars and wood are harvested sustainably and profits are used to increase household incomes and for development projects such as schools, clinics, grinding mills and drilling wells. Funds are also used to compensate villagers for crops and livestock damaged by wildlife. Over half of the country is involved in the programme. Commercial wildlife ranching : extending protected areas Commercial wildlife ranching can also contribute to Africa’s wildlife conservation measures, not to mention its economy. Wildlife is often better adapted to arid conditions than domestic livestock and game from ranches can be used to restock national parks if necessary. In Namibia 80% of game is found on private land, so wildlife ranching is particularly significant for conservation there. In Zimbabwe several ranchers have formed wildlife conservancies, agreeing to remove fences between their properties and manage their wildlife sustainably. For example, the Save conservancy consists of 15 ranches totalling some 3,000 km2 of wildlife habitat where game can freely cross from ranch to ranch. Foreign currency is raised through wildlife tourism and trophy hunting. Similar schemes are being started in Namibia and South Africa with significant benefits for wildlife conservation in these countries. In South Africa there are some 9,000 wildlife farms and ranches each holding an average 11 game species. These enterprises cover 160,000 km2 of ranch land. Trophy hunting from these farms brought in some US$188 million in 1991, supporting 200,000 local hunters. In addition wildlife meat is sold both nationally and internationally contributing about 12% of total meat production revenues in the country. The way forward : bringing people and parks together The effectiveness of protected areas is being enhanced through recognising and encouraging new forms of wildlife management such as community-based wildlife management and commercial ranches. This involves — · ensuring security of tenure for rural communities over their land and natural resources; · providing training and technical assistance to rural people in natural resource management techniques; and · international recognition that sustainable wildlife harvesting (including trophy hunting) is a legitimate form of wildlife management completely compatible with conservation and vital for sustainable rural development.

The Nile Crocodile : Back from the Brink – Thanks to Farmers

In the 1980s, the Nile crocodile populations were so depleted due to over-exploitation for handbags, shoes etc. that all international trade in its products was banned under CITES. However, farmers began to raise crocodiles intensively by collecting wild eggs and artificially hatching them, thus ensuring a higher survival rate. A proportion of crocodile hatchlings are re-released into the wild each year, while others are raised for their skins. This has been so successful that the species is no longer endangered, the trade ban has been lifted and most countries in southern Africa now support crocodile products once again. During 1991 in Zimbabwe over 58,000 eggs were collected and the industry earned some US$2 million. More significantly some of the eggs were purchased from rural communities who manage wildlife through CAMPFIRE. Thus Zimbabwe’s crocodile skin industry contributes to its economy, wildlife conservation and rural development.

Compiled by ResourceAfrica South Africa Office: P.O. Box 2915, Parklands, 2121 – EU Office: P.O. Box 198, Cambridge, CB3 0TF