Finding solutions to human-wildlife conflict in Namibia’s farming communities

In the Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA), an innovative approach to human-wildlife coexistence is transforming the lives of farmers and wildlife alike. The work done by the Kwando Carnivore Project (KCP) in Namibia's Zambezi Region demonstrates how thoughtful conservation strategies can protect both livelihoods and lions.

A chance meeting with Tanaka Muradzikwa, a Zimbabwean working with the KCP as Operations Manager, in Namibia, led to the sharing of this story. Tanaka Muradzikwa’s role is to optimise, modernise and mainstream the running of KCP. After training in SMART (computer and data programming) all the KCP data collection, storage and management migrated to this system.

Lions and conservation

The Zambezi Region serves as a vital wildlife corridor within KAZA, providing essential connectivity for animal movement across the broader conservation area. Declining wildlife populations here would create a vacuum affecting neighbouring countries. Conservation lessons learned in this region offer valuable insights for similar ecosystems. For farmers near Nkasa Rupara National Park, living alongside lions presented a constant challenge. The traditional cattle kraals (enclosures) offered little protection against determined predators, leading to significant livestock losses and retaliatory killings of lions, approximately 20 per year.

The Kwando Carnivore Project (KCP) addressed this conflict by introducing predator-proof livestock kraals to replace the traditional, more vulnerable enclosures. The results have been remarkable.

Over 170 reinforced kraals have been constructed in human-wildlife conflict hotspots. Livestock losses from kraals have dropped by 90% and retaliatory lion killings have decreased from 20 per year to just one or two.

This success highlights how thoughtful infrastructure improvements can dramatically reduce conflict. However, the project recognised that nighttime protection was only part of the solution. To address daytime vulnerabilities when cattle are grazing, the Project is now exploring the deployment of Lion Guards to support herders in protecting their livestock throughout the day.

From problem to opportunity

Perhaps most inspiring is how this conservation challenge has sparked entrepreneurship within the community. Residents Lucious Kukuwe and Coster identified an opportunity to manufacture stronger gates for the predator-proof kraals than what was commercially available.

After investing in equipment to produce these specialised gates, they now operate a home-based manufacturing enterprise. Lucious Kukuwe has become an expert in handling the equipment and can take on large orders at a moment’s notice. The project purchases these locally-made gates at distributor prices, creating a sustainable economic model that not only provides income to local entrepreneurs but keeps thousands of cattle safe from nocturnal predators.

Another important aspect of the program is record keeping. The Event Book is a community monitoring system adopted by the conservancies in Namibia to keep track of their natural resources as well as record incidents of conflict with wildlife. This is an essential process in landscapes that are shared by people and wildlife and the work is carried out by community game guards called the Lion Rangers who are employed by the conservancies. These records of conflict are shared with KCP to guide their efforts in strengthening livestock kraals against attacks by predators. The information is continuously mapped and compared to previous records to measure success and progress as well as to guide KCP activities for the year ahead.

The Lion Rangers from Nyae Nyae Conservancy and the Chobe landscape last year travelled to Zimbabwe. Accompanied by Tanaka Muradzikwa, Christo Snyman and Reuben Mafati they visited the Victoria Falls Wildlife Trust and the Hwange Long Shields to learn from their experience in protecting livestock from lions as well as chasing lions away from human settlements. They learnt how the Long Shields have had incredible success in using vuvuzelas to scare lions back into Hwange National Park and they learnt how mobile kraals can be put up as emergency kraaling to protect cattle from prowling lions or use them on fields where cattle dung can nutrify soil to improve crop yields.

The Lion Rangers of Nyae Nyae is a small team of five, chosen by Nyae Nyae Conservancy to patrol areas where conflict with lions could potentially occur. These rangers whose jobs depend on the presence of lions in this vast area are the first step in recovering lion numbers in Khaudum National Park and Nyae Nyae Conservancy in Namibia. Lion numbers are severely depressed in this system but can bounce back if the many challenges in the landscape are addressed. Even if only one step at a time. The Lion Rangers have received training in SMART so that they can collect all sorts of information using their phenomenal tracking skills while their effort can be measured. The KCP facilitated the implementation of Lion Rangers in Nyae Nyae with support from the Lion Recovery Fund.

Sustainable tourism

The nearby Nkasa Lupala Tented Lodge offers visitors an opportunity to experience this conservation success firsthand. As part of Namibia's conservancy program, the lodge and the Wuparo Conservancy demonstrate how sustainable tourism can contribute to conservation while supporting local communities.

Visitors staying at the lodge can arrange to visit the Kwando Carnivore Project, witnessing firsthand how thoughtful interventions can transform conflict into coexistence, blending sustainable tourism, conservation, and community development into a model that benefits both people and wildlife.

This approach in Namibia's Zambezi Region shows that with careful planning and community involvement, solutions to human-wildlife conflict can create opportunities rather than just mitigate problems.

Zimbabwe, with its vast wilderness areas and similar human-wildlife conflict challenges especially in the marginal farming areas close to National Parks, could significantly benefit from adopting the Kwando Carnivore Project's community-centred approach. By implementing predator-proof kraals in conflict hotspots along its border regions and conservation areas, Zimbabwe could reduce livestock losses and retaliatory killings while simultaneously creating local entrepreneurship opportunities. The Zambezi Valley and areas surrounding Hwange National Park, where communities frequently encounter lions, would be ideal starting points for such initiatives.

Furthermore, Zimbabwe could integrate these protective measures with its existing CAMPFIRE program, creating a comprehensive framework that addresses both nighttime and daytime livestock protection through trained Lion Guards, while fostering community ownership of conservation efforts. This approach would not only protect wildlife corridors essential for the broader KAZA region but also demonstrate Zimbabwe's commitment to sustainable solutions that balance human livelihoods with wildlife conservation.

The CAMPFIRE community project in Zimbabwe still exists, although its viability has sadly diminished over time. Initially, it was a successful community-based natural resource management program, but many of its projects have faced challenges, leading to only a few remaining viable today. Efforts have been made to revitalise the program, including learning from Namibian conservancies and integrating it into Zimbabwe's national development strategy. Despite these efforts, the program remains largely dependent on hunting revenue and faces challenges in diversification.