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Wildlife & Sustainable Rural Development in Namibia:
Are There Applications to the Northern Great Plains?
Chris Weaver, the Managing Director of the World Wildlife Fund-Namibia program delivered the Third Annual Grassland Foundation lecture in Grassland Conservation & Sustainable Communities at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Great Plains Art Museum on Tuesday, March 25 to an audience of about 150.
The presentation dealt with the development of various conservation models in Namibia that have led to a large increase in wildlife numbers and an improvement in rural livelihoods from hunting, nature-based tourism and other activities. Weaver suggested that private agreements among neighboring landowners similar to those used in Namibia may be applicable to private grazing areas of the Northern Plains because they provide a private property based approach to creating scale for better wildlife management and for creating better marketing opportunities for multiple uses of grasslands. In Namibia at least a successful nature based tourism operation will earn significantly more money than grazing livestock alone.
The talk is now available for download here. CLICK TO DOWNLOAD. (wmv file | 219MB)
This program was funded in part by: Nebraska Humanities Council and the Nebraska Cultural Endowment, Center for Great Plains Studies at UNL, World Wildlife Fund-Northern Great Plains Program, Center for Grassland Studies at UNL, RUPRI Center for Rural Entrepreneurship, University of Nebraska Rural Initiative, Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, and the UNL Senate Convocation Fund.*
For more information contact Jill L Francke, Administrative and Communications Associate, Grassland Foundation at jill@grasslandfoundation.org.
*None of these organizations necessarily endorse the Grassland Foundation or the contents of this presentation.
Click on the link below to read an article that appeared in the Lincoln Journal Star newspaper by Joe Duggan.
Foundation believes ecotourism could thrive on Plains
By: Joe Duggan - Lincoln Journal Star - Friday, March 21, 2008
Further Thoughts on "Private For-Profit Conservancies"
By: Tyler Sutton, President- Grassland Foundation
To be sure there are many differences between rural Namibia and the Northern Great Plains. But in those areas where private lands dominate the landscape what you now find in Namibia is a lot more wildlife than there was only a few years ago and the returns to private landowners who successfully develop and manage nature based activities along with their livestock are greater than for those who rely solely on livestock.
Chris Weaver pointed out in his talk that the legal mechanism many adjoining private livestock operators use there to collaboratively manage larger areas to improve habitat and create better marketing opportunities for hunting, wildlife viewing and other activities (while maintaining there individual cattle operations) is called a "private conservancy." This is not to be confused with a non-profit conservation organization here in the United States. There, a private conservancy is a voluntary agreement among private for profit landowners for habitat management and marketing collaboratively the area governed by the agreement for nature based activities (but also products, including ag products). These agreements might be thought of in the United States as a type of private partnership among adjoining landowners and could include arrangements for building infrastructure, sharing management responsibilities and revenue, and raising capital.
Do these "private for profit conservancies" have a role to play in the future of land management on the plains? Time will tell, but these arrangements have the potential to deliver better conservation results than government led initiatives and better financial returns to private landowners than livestock grazing alone, yet at the same time preserve the cattle heritage of the region. Once better understood, private conservancies might become an important private property based innovation for keeping people on the land.
Sandhills Hospitality at Calamus Outfitters
After delivering the lecture, Chris Weaver, along with Rich Reading, Ph.D., Director of Conservation at the Denver Zoo and Dennis Jorgensen, a WWF staffer from Zortman, Montana headed west as guests of the Grassland Foundation for some Sandhill Crane viewing on the Platte River near Gibbon, and a journey through the Nebraska Sandhills.
A highlight of the trip was a stop for the "spring prairie chicken dance" at the Switzer Ranch, home of Calamus Outfitters, a fourth generation cattle ranch located in the beautiful Calamus River basin in Loup County, near Taylor.
Bruce and Sue Ann Switzer provided our group some fine Sandhills hospitality, including excellent home cooking and comfortable lodges featuring private rooms and baths; the prairie chicken and wildlife viewing was pretty good too.
Calamus Outfitters is a great place if you are looking to "just get away" or you're planning a family vacation, a holiday or office party, or just want a base to experience the Nebraska Sandhills. The Switzer family offers a variety of seasonal outdoor activities including Hunting & Fishing, Wildlife Viewing, Tanking & Canoeing, and Trail Rides.
We all enjoyed talking to Bruce and Sue Ann about similarities and differences between integrated cattle ranching and tourism operations in Namibia and the plains.
We were also treated to a tour of the neighboring Gracie Creek Ranch by owner, Bob Price and his son Aaron, a UNL Natural Resource Management/ Environmental Economics major. Gracie Creek Ranch uses an intensive rotational cattle grazing system. The Price's are supportive of their neighbor's efforts to integrate hospitality and nature-based activities into their ranching operation, even though for now they are not considering tourism as part of their operation.
Nevertheless, the Price's enjoy hosting people interested in their wildlife friendly cattle grazing practices; it was a special treat for Chris Weaver to learn more about grazing in Nebraska because of his past work as a grazing consultant and range project manager in both the U.S. and southern Africa.
To learn more about what Calamus Outfitters has to offer visit www.calamusoutfitters.com.
For more information contact Jill Francke, Administrative and Communications Associate, at jill@grasslandfoundation.org.