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Namibia’s National Protected Area System – state land devoted to conservation – comprises over 17% of the country, and is broadly split into two parts: national parks and concessions. Concession areas are state land managed by non-state entities, such as communal conservancies or private sector operators, usually given over to tourism.
There are four broad types of concession: lodge-based tourism, camp site based tourism, trophy hunting, and traversing rights (whereby a communal conservancy or tour operator may have rights to traverse national park areas with tourist clients).
There are currently 15 concessions. One is for hunting, 11 for lodges, and 3 for activities such as ballooning. Lodges carry out tourism activities in concession areas: primarily game drives.
The concessions granted to conservancies are called ‘head concessions’, and are conditional upon conservancies tendering out management of tourism in concession areas to private sector operators with both experience and capacity. Income then goes to conservancies, to the private sector, and to government, thus stimulating the economy both locally and nationally.
Before Namibia gained independence in 1990, traditional authorities in Kunene designated the Palmwag, Etendeka, and Hobatere concessions—the largest in the country—as conservation areas. These zones prohibit agriculture and aim to protect wildlife, particularly endangered species like the black rhino, allowing them to flourish.
In 2007, the government approved a new Tourism and Wildlife Concessions Policy aimed at ensuring the fair, transparent, and efficient awarding of concessions on state lands. While concessions are viewed as a way to offer high-quality, diverse tourism and hunting opportunities that can support local and national economic growth, Namibia also sees protected areas as tools for poverty alleviation and empowering communities. The Policy specifically creates avenues for rural communities to participate in the growing nature-based tourism sector, allowing them to gain tangible and intangible benefits such as income, employment, business opportunities, and capacity building. Awarding concessions to local communities can also help shift perceptions of wildlife and protected areas positively, enhancing conservation efforts.
Typically, 75% of net income from tourism operations is allocated to one or more conservancies managing a concession, with the remaining 25% going to the government. These concessions have created over 340 jobs in rural areas, and the opening of new concessions is expected to increase this figure to more than 600. The conservancies use their revenue to support conservation activities, such as funding game guards, which have proved highly effective in deterring poaching near concession zones. Income accruing to conservancies is used for conservation purposes, such as the employment of game guards, which has proved a highly effective deterrent to poaching in conservancy areas adjacent to concessions.
Following on the granting of the Palmwag Concession to three conservancies: Anabeb, Sesfontein and Torra, new tourism concessions have been granted for lodge and camp sites in the Skeleton Coast Park, Bwabwata and Nkasa Rupara National Parks. Conservancies to the north and west of Etosha National Park have been granted traversing rights within the park.
The awarding of new concessions will further strengthen Namibia’s communal conservancies, widely acknowledged as an outstanding example of community-based natural resource management in Africa, and will provide a conservation buffer around important and well-known protected areas, particularly for rhinos and elephants.