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Two-thirds of Namibia’s 1.7 million people live in impoverished rural areas and are directly dependent upon natural resources for their economic well-being. Severe droughts and heavy poaching in the 1980s caused wildlife numbers to drop dramatically, adversely impacting tourism enterprises and ecosystem stability. 
In 1993, with support from USAID and the World Wildlife Fund, new legislation allowed communities the rights over wildlife provided that community members could meet the standards to register as a conservancy (a type of community-based management institution). Once a conservancy was established, the community received assistance in adopting effective game management practices, negotiating with the private sector, and benefitting from tourism revenues.
As a result, wildlife numbers have increased significantly, and many communities derive income from handicraft sales, trophy hunting contracts, and game meat distribution. Over 80 communal area conservancies either now exist or are in various stages of formation. Wildlife tourism continues to be a central means to diversify the country’s economy, and has become Namibia’s third highest contributor to GDP.
Namibia: Living in a Finite Environment (LIFE) Project factsheet (1.273MB PDF)
UN-WTO Sustainable Tourism Forum presentation (1.897MB PPT, 4KB HTML)
Country Profile: Namibia (190KB PDF)
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