Integrated Human Wildlife Conflict (HWC) and Wildlife Crime (WC) Management Project
Donor : Global Environment Facility (GEF)
Financed Through : UNDP
Executing Agency : MEFT Duration : April 2022 – December 2027
Background
The Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism (MEFT), with financial support from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) is executing a project titled:
“Integrated human-wildlife conflict and wildlife crime (HWC-WC) management”.
The HWC-WC Project is Implemented by the United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP).
This project has adopted four complementary approaches to address the twin challenge of WC in communal Conservancies and Protected Areas (PAs) across three HWC/WC hotspot landscapes in Namibia. The first approach is centred on reducing, mitigating and preventing HWC. For this approach, the project focuses on rebuilding and strengthening the capacities of conservancies, communal farmers, and government agencies to more effectively plan for, manage and monitor HWC. The second approach is centred on combating WC and protecting wildlife populations.
As part of this approach, the project is focusing on strengthening the capacities of anti-poaching units, and for science-based management and monitoring of populations of high-risk/high-value species. The third approach is centred on generating economic benefits for communities from wildlife-related enterprises, whereby the project will be supporting the development and operationalisation of wildlife-based Joint Venture (JV) enterprises in community conservancies, while also strengthening the capacities of local communities to upport, service and obtain employment in these JVs, as well as diversifying income streams in community conservancies to help offset the ‘costs’ of living with wildlife.
Under this approach, the project will contribute directly to rebuilding the community conservancy sector in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, and strengthening its resilience to possible future shocks and disturbances. The fourth approach is centred on enhancing local and national coordination, cooperation and knowledge sharing in HWC and WC. The project focuses on helping to build an HWC-WC community of practice at the local, national and regional geographic scales.
