In 1996, the Conservancies Association of Namibia (CANAM) was established with the assistance and invaluable input of officials of the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism (MEFT). Therefore, conservation in these areas is critical to ensure healthy ecosystems and wildlife numbers. Namibia has a dual land tenure system that provides different opportunities for sustainable land use and cons
ervation. The land outside of state protected areas is categorised into freehold farmlands constituting 43% of the country’s total area, while communal farmlands represent 40%. During the past 30 years, both freehold and communal farmers have been granted rights to the utilization of wildlife which has resulted in wildlife populations increasing throughout the country. State protected area management has often been the main focus of government wildlife departments in African countries, with little attention paid to wildlife in other areas. If these populations are ignored, only small isolated wildlife populations confined to national parks and other formally protected areas will remain. Considering that the majority of wildlife lives outside protected areas in most African nations, it has been critical over the past few decades that this disparity in the protection of wildlife be addressed. As a response, much of the conservation efforts outside government protected areas have been taken up by private landowners and non-governmental organisations (NGOs). CANAM acts as a representative body for all conservancies and its objectives are, inter alia, the following:
1. To represent as many properly established conservancies as possible in Namibia and to act as the coordinating body of these conservancies.
2. To liaise and endeavor to cooperate with the relevant authorities for the establishment, recognition and enforcement of legal implications in respect of conservancies and conservation in general in Namibia.
3. To actively encourage members to generate the interest and active participation of landowners, bona fide Land occupiers and their employees in the conservation of fauna and the environment in general.
4. To encourage and coordinate research and projects in respect of natural resource management.
5. To facilitate and coordinate development of a marketing strategy and conservancies.
7. To create awareness, both locally and internationally of the objectives and activities of CANAM.
8. To raise funds for the promotion and implementation of the objectives of CANAM.
