Can communities living side by side with wildlife beat Africa’s national parks at conservation?

Africa’s first national park was created 100 years ago by the Belgian colonial state in the Congo, and since then hundreds more have been developed – but in many areas there is more wildlife in protected areas run by local people. In the 20th century, “fortress conservation” was the main model applied by colonial powers in Africa, with Indigenous peoples, in particular pastoralists, usually forced out of their traditional territory to make space for wildlife. Globally, the exclusion of people in the name of protecting the environment resulted in widespread human rights abuses and an estimated 20 million people displaced from their land. More recently, the trend of conservancies and other community conversation models have been spreading. Conservancies were seen as the means to protect Indigenous people’s land and the wildlife which depends on that land. The article looks at examples from Kenya, Tanzania and Namibia of the positive outcomes of conservancies. The rapid human population increase across much of Africa, as well as the likely impacts of climate change, will continue to put pressure on natural resources. Community participation in protection of habitats and wildlife will be essential.