One in four rural Namibians are members of one of the 86 communal conservancies in Namibia. 

Communal conservancies are managed by their members for their members, empowering rural communities with rights and responsibilities.  However, increasing or new conservation and development needs; insufficient skills and resources to effectively address them; disincentives for good governance and good management; lack of economic sector coordination; and competing land uses are challenges that need to be addressed.

WWF is working with our partners to improve the financial literacy and skills of conservancy management staff, supporting external audits of financial books and encouraging an environment of good governance and financial accountability at the conservancy level. 

WWF is working with the Namibian Association of CBNRM Support Organizations (NACSO) to empower local communities, particularly women in the Kavango Region, to speak up so that economic developments contribute to sustainable community development. 

WWF provides technical and financial support to the Institutional Development Working Group, which supports communal conservancies to facilitate more cost effective and accountable service delivery, management systems, and locally appropriate performance monitoring and evaluation systems.

WWF works with Integrated Rural Development and Nature Conservation (IRDNC) and other partners to provide “know your conservancy, know your rights” training to the youth in conservancies. 

In all our projects and with all our partners, WWF implements the Environmental and Social Safeguards Framework (ESSF) which provides an institutional mechanism to manage the environmental and social risks of WWF’s work, helps deliver better conservation outcomes, and enhances the social well-being of local communities in the places where WWF operates.