Wisdom Sibanda

Community Participation in Wildlife Management: Reflections on the Experiences of Chinyamatikiti Village, Buhera, Zimbabwe Wisdom Sibanda

Community participation is vital for the success of any rural development project. Under the conservancy wildlife management strategy, commercial farmers come together to manage wildlife jointly to generate income through wildlife tourism. The economic benefits generated must be shared with the impoverished surrounding communities. The rural districts can purchase wildlife and place them in the conservancy and they will be managed just as the concervancy`s own animals are managed. The districts will get profit from the animals they own. Wildlife management industry, if put to good use, has a greater potential to meaningfully increase the prosperity of the people of the neigbouring communal areas than any other land use option. The communities surrounding the conservancies must participate meaningfully in the management of wildlife to make the project a success. Once the local communites feel sidelined in the utilization of wildlife resources it will lead to conflict. Such conflict could possibly be resolved through joint management of the resource. The research is vital for Government Departments, NGOs and institutions that are into wildlife management.