In Namibia these conservation areas are called conservancies. They range in function, but they all have some conservation objective. And significantly, conservancies are all about the community.
These conservancies are not just a nice idea that has been tried here and there. It's a major effort. Just take a look at this register [outside link to a pdf file]. It's clearly a big effort.
There are clearly many conservancies in Namibia. But perhaps they only conserve marginal areas devoid of wildlife? Wrong again!
Communal conservancies in Namibia protect a wide range of wildlife including some of the most iconic African species. These include African Elephants, Lions, a very important population of Black Rhino, cheetah and a number of other key African species.
For those interested in this concept, here are some links for further reading:
