Discussion
It is unclear whether and how the Nyae Nyae Conservancies works today. The chapter by Weaver and Skyer (2005) suggests that the program is working and that the Ju/'hoansi are benefiting. The webs site of the USAID also suggest that the program is working. However, both IUCN and USAID are stakeholders in the Conservancy; their perspectives has to be evaluated critically. In particular, because John Marshall's film A Kalahari Family: Death by Myth so clearly exposes the flaws of conservation and development programs that work on the assumption that the Ju/'hoansi are still foragers.
Megan Biesele (2004) argues that John Marshall misrepresents Ju/'hoansi engagement in development. Biesele believes that the Ju/'hoansi derive pride and income from conservation program and eco-tourism, and that there are doubts about the viability of agro-pastoral development in the Kalahari desert (which is John Marshall's vision for Ju/'hoansi development and autonomy).
Polly Wiesner (2003) presents data on the lives and livelihoods of Ju/'hoansi in the Nyae Nyae area as recently as 2003. The picture that she sketches is bleak. According to her surveys, the benefits of the Conservancy are minimal for the Ju/'hoansi.
References Cited
Biesele, Megan
2004 Speaking truth to a powerful film: engaging with a representation of an indigenous people. Anthropology News (February 2004):8-9.
Weaver, Larrye Chris, and Patricia Skyer
2005 Conservancies: Integrating Wildlife Land-Use Options into the Livelihood, Development and Conservation Strategies of Namibian Communities. In Conservation and Development Interventions at the Wildlife/Livestock Interface: Implications for Wildlife, Livestock and Human Health. S.A. Osofsky, ed. Gland (Switzerland): IUCN.
Wiessner, Polly
2003 Owners of the future? Calories, cash, casualties and self-sufficicency in the Nyae Nyae area between 1966 and 2003. Visual Anthropology Review 19(1-2):149-159.
External links
- Brief description from USAID about the conservancy.
- Profile of the Nyae Nyae Conservancy at the web site of the Namibia Association of CBNRM Support Organisations (NASCO).
- Tourism in the Nyae Nyae Conservancy.
- For an interesting article on the history of the Nyae Nyae Development Foundation of Nambia (NNDFN), see Indicators from Ju/'hoan Bushmen in Namibia, a 1996 article in Cultural Survival Quarterly.
