Community conservation creates over 2 000 jobs

Community conservation contributed an estimated N$1.075 billion to Namibia’s net national income in 2023, bringing the total contribution from 1990 to the end of 2023 to more than N$15.2 billion.

Community conservation areas cover approximately 60.7% of all communal land in Namibia, supporting an estimated 244 587 residents and facilitating 2 340 jobs.

These figures are from the latest State of Community Conservation Report for 2023.

Community conservation areas span 185 809 square kilometres, with conservancies managing 166 179 square kilometres – 20.2% of Namibia's landscape.

In 2023, 1 057 people were directly employed by conservancies.



Financial outcomes

Meanwhile, 74 joint-venture enterprises within conservancies employed 934 people full-time and 104 part-time, while 57 hunting concessions created 165 full-time and 80 part-time jobs.

Of the N$166 million cash and in-kind benefits generated by conservancies in 2023, conservation hunting generated N$48.9 million, with a meat value of N$2.4 million, the report stated.

Tourism generated N$111 million and indigenous plant products N$1.19 million, while other miscellaneous income brought in more than N$3.07 million.

Conservancy residents earned a total cash income of N$90.5 million.

Of this, more than N$57.7 million came from joint-venture tourism, N$30.7 million from conservancies, and N$1.9 million from conservation hunting.

Conservancies received over 90 000 kilograms of game meat from trophy hunting, while over N$28 million in cash benefits was distributed to residents and used to support community projects.