Communal Areas Management Programme for Indigenous Resources: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|Zimbabwean natural resource management program}}

The '''Communal Areas Management Programme for Indigenous Resources''' ('''CAMPFIRE''') is a [[Zimbabwe]]an [[Natural resource management#Regional or Community Based NRM|community-based natural resource management]] program. It is one of the first programs to consider wildlife as [[Renewable resource|renewable natural resources]], while addressing the allocation of its ownership to indigenous peoples in and around conservation protected areas.{{sfn|SatchelSatchell|1996}}

== Background ==

CAMPFIRE was initiated in 1989 by the Zimbabwean government as a program to support community-led development and sustainable use of natural resources.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last1=Frost|first1=Bond|last2=Bond|first2=Ivan|date=2008|title=The CAMPFIRE Programme in Zimbabwe: Payment for Wildlife Services|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/222401703|journal=Ecological Economics|volume=65|issue=4|pages=776–87|via=Research Gate|doi=10.1016/j.ecolecon.2007.09.018}}</ref> The 1975 Parks and Wildlife Act set the legal basis for CAMPFIRE by allowing communities and private landowners to use wildlife on their land, marking a substantial shift from colonial policy that made it illegal for local populations to utilize wildlife in any way.<ref name=":6">{{Cite journal|last=Vorlaufer|first=Karl|date=2002|title=CAMPFIRE-The Political Ecology of Poverty Alleviation, Wildlife Utilisation and Biodiversity Conservation in Zimbabwe|journal=Erdkunde|volume=56|issue=2|pages=184–206|doi=10.3112/erdkunde.2002.02.06}}</ref>

Population pressures in Zimbabwe have led to people living in communal lands, much of which is arid and unsuitable for agricultural farming.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal|last=Murindagomo|first=Felix|date=1990|title=Zimbabwe: WINDFALL and CAMPFIRE|journal=Living with Wildlife: Resource Management with Local Participation in Africa|pages=123–140}}</ref> CAMPFIRE would allow individuals to earn income on these communal lands through sustainable use of the environment and wildlife.<ref name=":3" /> CAMPFIRE is managed through Rural District Councils (RDCs) who distribute contracts for safari hunting and tourism and allocate revenue to local wards.<ref name=":0" /> Poaching was to be suppressed by the people in these hunting areas.<ref>Ceballos, G.; Ehrlich, A. H.; Ehrlich, P. R. (2015). ''The Annihilation of Nature: Human Extinction of Birds and Mammals''. Baltimore, Maryland: Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 170 - 172. {{ISBN|1421417189}} - via open edition.</ref> While some endangered animals were killed, the program aimed at supporting these populations in the long run by managing hunting, decreasing illegal [[poaching]], and strengthening the economic prospects of the community through environmental protection and revenue generation.

The US federal government has supported CAMPFIRE, principally through the [[United States Agency for International Development]], or [[USAID]]. CAMPFIRE received $7.6 million initially and $20.5 million in 1994 from USAID.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=Hasler|first=Richard|title=An Overview of the Social, Ecological and Economic Achievements and Challenges of Zimbabwe's CAMPFIRE programme|url=http://pubs.iied.org/pdfs/7796IIED.pdf|journal=Evaluating Eden Series Discussion Paper No 3|pages=1–22}}</ref> USAID did not renew its funding once their commitment ended in 2000.<ref name=":1" />

== Results ==

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=== Benefits to Households ===

While crop and livestock cultivation are more susceptible to drought or irrigation failures, wildlife serves as a more dependable source of income due to their comparative advantage in the environment.<ref name=":6" /> The scale of benefits varies greatly across districts, wards and households. Rural district councils typically allocate 40-6040–60% of revenue to wards, either through direct benefits or through funding projects.<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal|last=Child|first=Brian|date=1993|title=Zimbabwe's CAMPFIRE programme: using the high value of wildlife recreation to revolutionize natural resource management in communal areas|journal=The Commonwealth Forestry Review|volume=72|issue=4|pages=284–296|jstor=42606968}}</ref> It has been estimated by the World Wildlife Fund that households participating in CAMPFIRE increased their incomes by 15-2515–25%.<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www1.american.edu/ted/campfire.htm | title=American University, Washington, D.C | access-date=2014-09-29 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150612030244/http://www1.american.edu/ted/campfire.htm | archive-date=2015-06-12 | url-status=dead }}</ref>

Communities also receive indirect benefits through community projects, such as the construction of schools, clinics, grinding mills, or prospects for additional income through employment as a game monitor or a related job.<ref name=":4" /> Depending on wildlife population density, some wards have diversified their revenue streams. For instance, the Mahenye ward had no elephants or large wildlife immediately around its district and opened game-viewing lodges to generate revenue in place of hunting contracts.<ref name=":5">{{Cite journal|last=Balint|first=Peter|date=2009|title=CAMPFIRE During Zimbabwe's National Crisis: Local Impacts and Broader Implications for Community-Based Wildlife Management|journal=Society and Natural Resources|volume=21|issue=9|pages=783–796|doi=10.1080/08941920701681961|s2cid=153944326}}</ref> Wards with higher per household revenue have encouraged immigration in order to increase population density in a way that would warrant the development of roads, schools, and other infrastructure suited for high population densities.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Murombedzi|first=James C.|date=1999|title=Devolution and Stewardship in Zimbabwe's Campfire Programme|journal=Journal of International Development|volume=11|issue=2|pages=287–293|doi=10.1002/(SICI)1099-1328(199903/04)11:2<287::AID-JID584>3.0.CO;2-M}}</ref>

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== Criticisms ==

The sustainability of protecting wildlife is contingent upon market demand for safaris, hunting, and other wildlife commodities.<ref name="The CAMPFIRE Program in Zimbabwe">{{Cite web | url=https://firstforwildlife.wordpress.com/2015/08/18/the-campfire-program-in-zimbabwe/ |title = The CAMPFIRE Program in Zimbabwe|date = 2015-08-18}}</ref> After increased violence around land ownership, investment and tourism decreased, resulting in a decline of revenue generation across wards.<ref name=":5" /> Furthermore, CAMPFIRE's model is based on the sustainable consumptive use of [[endangered species]] as a strategy to increase the value of their remaining populations. This position clashed with the majority [[Wilderness#Conservation vs. preservation|preservationist]], anti-hunting public sentiment in the US as well as national and international law, in particular [[CITES]].{{sfn|Rowe|1997}} In 2014 the US stopped the importation of elephants and ivory into the US, halting much of the hunting and revenue carried out in CAMPFIRE communities.<ref name="The CAMPFIRE Program in Zimbabwe"/> More recently, the Trump administration has lifted the US' ban on [[Trophy hunting|trophy imports]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/07/science/trump-elephant-trophy-hunting.html|title=U.S. Lifts Ban on Some Elephant and Lion Trophies|last=Nuwer|first=Rachel|author-link=Rachel Nuwer |date=2018-03-07|work=The New York Times|access-date=2019-05-10|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

Following Zimbabwe's economic downturn in the 2000s, CAMPFIRE experienced a greater degree of elite capture, with villagers reporting that council positions and CAMPFIRE-related employment opportunities being held by friends and family members of sitting councillors.<ref name=":5" /> RDCs have retained an increasing percentage of CAMPFIRE revenues and are criticized for being unresponsive to local concerns.<ref name=":3" /> In some areas, the communal projects are initiated but are not sustained, while the income from CAMPFIRE revenues is insufficient to substitute agricultural income.<ref name=":2" />