We support rural communities and help them to participate in the economy through wise and sustainable use of their natural resources. We show rural communities that agriculture, cattle ranching and wildlife ranching are all profitable activities vying for the use of land and provide them with the means to profit from maintaining healthy wildlife populations, thus truly achieving the goal of sustainable development through conservation.
The CAMPFIRE Association works with local communities to help them to manage their land and their wildlife for future generations and to help them realise financial benefits from effective resource stewardship. We provide the following services to local communities:
Institutional development:
We organise individual households (producer communities) in CAMPFIRE districts into various committees to manage their natural resources. Producer communities receive help with project proposal development, forming organizations and project management, and help them to ensure that the revenues generated are managed in a democratic, transparent and accountable manner.
Law enforcement:
We train and financially support “Resource Monitors” or “Game Scouts”, who monitor and apprehend those persons breaking the national, district or locally developed rules designed to protect natural resources.
Contracting and monitoring of commercial activities:
We work with private tourism and safari operators in liason with Local Authorities to broker contracts and ensure that producer communities are fairly compensated for access to their wildlife resources.
Managing human-wildlife conflict:
This is a major issue in CAMPFIRE areas and a variety of wild mammals and reptiles pose major threats to people’s lives and crops. The CAMPFIRE Association provides technical support and funding for local projects that will reduce human-wildlife conflict.
Fire management:
Uncontrolled veld fires cause substantial damage to indigenous forests and wildlife areas, grazing areas, people and property, and the environment. The reduction of incidences of uncontrolled veld fires and associated environmental damage is achieved through implementation of effective fire protection strategies, including training, and in some cases the purchase and maintenance of equipment.
Counting wildlife and quota setting:
Knowledge of the number of animals in a given area and where they are found using ground-based methods of counting allows producer communities to effectively increase the productivity of wildlife based enterprises and contribute to improvement of wildlife habitats. Effective wildlife management by communities comes with skills in monitoring changes in wildlife populations, and the ability to contribute such information to the quota setting process.