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The Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encourage the exchange of ideas about development issues. An objective of the series is to get the findings out quickly, even if the presentations are less than fully polished. The papers carry the names of the authors and should be cited accordingly. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper are entirely those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent the views of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/World Bank and its affiliated organizations, or those of the Executive Directors of the World Bank or the governments they represent.

Game Management Areas in Zambia aim to combine nature conservation with economic empowerment of rural households. This study determines the impact of community-based wildlife management and participation in related community institutions on household welfare. The results indicate that the gains from living in Game Management Areas and from participating in natural resource management are large but unevenly distributed. Only Game Management Areas with limited alternative livelihoods exhibit significant consumption benefits. However, the gains accrue mainly to the relatively well off, while the poor do not gain even if they participate. The results also show that infrastructure development does not necessarily translate into household level consumption gains in the short run. The design of community-based natural resource management programmes needs to respond to the inherent diversity among both the national parks and the community members. There is a need to address impediments to effective participation by the majority of the community members.

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Community-based natural resource management is an important strategy to conserve and sustainably use biodiversity and wildlife in Namibia. This paper examines the extent to which conservancies have been successful in meeting their primary goal of improving the lives of rural households. It evaluates the benefits of community conservancies in Namibia by asking three questions: (a) Do conservancies increase household welfare? (b) Are conservancies propoor? (c) And, do participants in conservancies gain more relative to those who choose not to participate? The analysis is based on a 2002 survey covering seven conservancies and 1,192 households. The results suggest that community conservancies have a positive impact on household welfare. This impact is poverty-neutral in some regions and pro-poor in others. Further, welfare benefits from conservancies appear to be some what evenly distributed between participant and non-participant households. at the Ministry of Environment of Namibia, and other World Bank colleagues who have commented on this paper. We would like to thank Kirk Hamilton, team leader, Policy and Economics Team, World Bank, who provided valuable guidance and support. We sincerely thank our donors from the Trust Fund for Environmental and Socially Sustainable Development. Funding for the survey was contributed by the Swedish government through Sida, and the UK government through DFID as well as the Namibian government. World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 3337, June 2004The Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encourage the exchange of ideas about development issues. An objective of the series is to get the findings out quickly, even if the presentations are less than fully polished.