Elevating the role of communities in conservation management areas

The document advocates for the use of Other Effective area-based Conservation Measures (OECMs) in Africa to bridge the gap between biodiversity protection and community livelihoods. It highlights that while traditional protected areas often displaced local populations, OECMs allow for diverse governance—including community and private partnerships—that can deliver both conservation and economic gains. Through case studies in South Africa and Kenya, the briefing demonstrates how these models can generate income via tourism, sustainable ranching, and ecosystem services. It concludes that African governments should collectively advocate for community-centred conservation in the post-2020 global biodiversity framework, provided that rights-based approaches, innovative financing, and context-specific research are prioritised to avoid elite capture and ensure equitable benefit distribution.

• Other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs) differ from protected areas in that they do not require a primary conservation objective, although they must deliver effective conservation benefits and long-term in-situ biodiversity and socio-economic gains.
• Traditional protected areas in Africa often caused socio-economic harm by removing communities from their land and restricting access to essential natural resources like food, firewood, and medicinal herbs, often leaving only limited employment in eco-enterprises.
• In South Africa, the Nambiti Private Game Reserve demonstrates a successful community-private partnership where the Senzo’kuhle Nkos’uNodada Communal Trust benefits from lease fees, lodge ownership, and profits from hunting and venison sales.
• The Dixie Community Rangeland in South Africa illustrates the cost-effectiveness of biodiversity stewardship, noting that between 2008 and 2016, 68% of protected area expansion occurred via stewardship, costing the state 70 to 400 times less per hectare than land acquisition.
• Kenya has utilised the 'Parks Beyond Parks' campaign and the Minimum Viable Conservation Area (MVCA) approach to expand conservation outside parks, with approximately 65% of the country's wildlife now existing in wildlife conservancies.
• The implementation of OECMs faces significant hurdles, including the risk of 'elite capture' of resources, the need for transparency to ensure benefits reach women and children, and a lack of standardised metrics for reporting biological and economic outcomes.
• To successfully scale OECMs, there is an urgent requirement for innovative biodiversity-focused financing, capacity building for community-operated enterprises, and a rights-based approach that empowers local leaders as custodians of the land.

APA

South African Institute of International Affairs (2021). Elevating the role of communities in conservation management areas. https://saiia.org.za/research/elevating-the-role-of-communities-in-conservation-management-areas/

Chicago

South African Institute of International Affairs. Elevating the role of communities in conservation management areas. 2021. https://saiia.org.za/research/elevating-the-role-of-communities-in-conservation-management-areas/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=South African Institute of International Affairs |title=Elevating the role of communities in conservation management areas |date=7 July 2021 |url=https://saiia.org.za/research/elevating-the-role-of-communities-in-conservation-management-areas/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{southafricaninstituteofinternationalaffairs2021elevating, author = {{South African Institute of International Affairs}}, title = {{Elevating the role of communities in conservation management areas}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2021}, month = jul, url = {https://saiia.org.za/research/elevating-the-role-of-communities-in-conservation-management-areas/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }