Regional resilience and social-ecological systems: the impact of COVID-19 on community conservation in Namibia

ABSTRACT

The COVID-19 pandemic severely affected wildlife areas in Namibia, where the collapse of tourism threatened community-based natural resource management programs. This study conceptualizes community conservancies as social-ecological systems and links this framework to an evolutionary regional resilience perspective. Qualitative interviews reveal the vulnerability of conservancies in the Zambezi region due to their heavy reliance on tourism revenues. While adaptation processes and donor support have mitigated negative impacts, the prioritisation of conservation over rural development risks undermining the long-term adaptive capacity of the region. Continued donor support, policy improvements and diversification efforts are essential to strengthen the resilience of community-based conservation.

KEYWORDS:

• CBNRM
• regional resilience
• social-ecological systems
• Covid-19
• Namibia

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Carolin Hulke, Jim Kairu, Javier Revilla Diez and Lucas Rutina who, together with Linus Kalvelage, designed and organised the first wave of data collection as described in Hulke et al. (2022). Data collection would not have been possible without the help of the following University of Namibia graduates: Sofia Nifuma, Simasiku Adrein Mwanangombe, Chataa Aretha and Pauline Munyindei. We are also grateful for the support of Castrow Muunda, Chairperson of the Zambezi Horticulture Producers Association. We are particularly indebted to all the respondents who shared their knowledge and time to contribute to this study. The German Research Foundation (DFG) funded this study through the Collaborative Research Centre (CRC/TRR 228/1) 'Future Rural Africa'.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Lars Lüder

Lars Lüder is a human geographer with a focus on human-environment relations and is currently enrolled in a Master of Science in Geography at the University of Cologne. He previously studied Geography and African Languages and Cultures at the same university.

Linus Kalvelage

Linus Kalvelage is a postdoctoral researcher and lecturer at the Institute of Geography, University of Cologne, Germany, and a member of the inter-disciplinary Global South Studies Center. With a focus on economic geography, Linus works at the interface of economy, nature and space, analyzing regional development trajectories through nature conservation and energy transition in peripheral regions. His doctoral research within the Collaborative Research Centre (CRC 228) ‘Future Rural Africa’ looked at the intersection of growth corridors, tourism value chains and protected areas in Southern Africa. His postdoctoral research is concerned with sustainable energy transitions, in particular green hydrogen projects in the European and African periphery.