JOINT VENTURE TOURISM IN NAMIBIA’S COMMUNAL CONSERVANCIES

JOINT VENTURE TOURISM IN NAMIBIA’S

Communal Conservancies

PARTNERSHIPS FOR THE FUTURE

This is your dream holiday come true: the expansive space you’ve been craving, spectacular views and stunning wildlife, warm hospitality and exquisite accommodation. These words could describe a multitude of lodges and campsites in Namibia, so why, when you are presented with so much choice, should you choose to stay at a conservancy joint venture property?

The answers are rooted in a commitment to conservation, communities and the future, where despite low season blues, community members can count on the conservancy joint venture partnerships for benefits and Namibia’s Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism (MEFT) can count on concession fees from these private sector partners that help to protect some of the most vulnerable wildlife and spectacular places on the planet.

Namibia’s communal conservancies encompass over 20% of the country’s land, from the rivers of the Zambezi to the mountains of the Kunene, from the baobab studded forests of the east to the deserts in the south. One in four rural Namibians is a resident of a communal conservancy, where community members have the rights and responsibilities to use their natural resources sustainably, including making the bold choice to live with wildlife.

Decades of hard work and dedication by conservancy members have led to incredible results: the expansion of wildlife range and numbers, preservation of unique cultures, and the opportunity to partner with world-class tourism establishments to offer authentic travel experiences where your stay contributes directly to conservation and community development.

These tourism partnerships are called joint ventures. They are contractual agreements between communities who have the tourism rights to an area and private sector tourism operators who provide funding and expertise. But the commitment goes much deeper than a contract or a cheque. Joint venture partnerships change lives.

In remote areas in Namibia, where economic development is limited and the principal commodities are space, spectacular landscapes and stunning wildlife, rural communities and their joint venture partners have created conservation-based economies. Private sector joint venture tourism partners invest in developing stunning lodges and camps and then providing training, employment and opportunities to community members. In turn, communities have a vested interest in providing the best possible experience to guests, thus building the value of this shared asset and protecting the landscape and wildlife that attracts the world’s most discerning guests.

Support to conservancies from joint venture partners goes beyond the lodge and its activities to encompass support for education, nutrition and health care, culture heritage and community-backed conservation initiatives.

Joint venture partners also support anti-poaching units that monitor and protect rare and endangered species often in unfenced wilderness areas, which has provided space for expansion in range and numbers of wildlife populations. Joint venture partners also pro-actively and reactively respond to human-wildlife conflict. The symbiotic nature of these partnerships has created trust, care and concern that has been strengthened over time, so when communities lose valuable livestock or are fearful of potentially dangerous animals, joint venture partners respond, because they have a first-hand understanding of these difficulties. They also share the communities’ sense of pride in working through these challenges and protecting wildlife for future generations.

Many conservancy joint ventures are located next to or inside protected areas or national parks, such as Bwabwata, Etendeka, Etosha, Hobatere, Nkasa Rupara, Palmwag, and the Skeleton Coast. Guests get a chance to experience these stunning areas with local guides, while rural communities receive benefits, and joint venture partners pay concession fees to the MEFT that have proven vital to the long-term conservation of these natural treasures.

For you, the traveler, joint venture properties provide experiences of a lifetime. Joint venture tourism is as varied as the landscape and the people of Namibia. Enjoy world-class hospitality and lodges, go tracking and learn the signs of the wild, dance to traditional music, visit a living museum, watch as traditional arts and crafts are being made, and listen to stories told around the fire.

This is authentic tourism, where partnerships matter, benefits last, and where you come away knowing that your holiday made a difference to communities, conservation and the future. You will be rewarded with fresh insights into worlds you could never imagine, and more lives will be changed, including your own.

Look for the community conservation logo in Namibia Holiday and Travel and visit our website at www.conservationtourism.com.na for more information.

AT THE BEGINNING OF 2020, JOINT VENTURE TOURISM INCLUDED SUPPORT FOR:

• 56 joint-venture lodges

• 21 joint-venture and community campsites

• 12 living museums, craft and indigenous product development enterprises

• Over 1,300 full and part-time employees at jv lodges, enterprises and campsites

• Over 1,500 craft producers and harvesters

• Largest free-roaming population of critically endangered black rhino left in the world

• Growing populations of elephant, lion, leopard, giraffe, and other wildlife species, including more than 10,000 animals of 15 different game species that have been translocated out of national parks into communal lands to boost populations there