The Centre for Natural Resource Governance says councils receiving funds from the Communal Areas Management Programme for Indigenous Resources (CAMPFIRE) should put those funds to good use with projects that benefit communities and not splash that cash on cars.
Speaking recently, CNRG Director Farai Maguwu said councils should ensure money from CAMPFIRE is invested in road refurbishment, Clinic construction and other meaningful projects that impact the lives of villagers.
The Communal Areas Management Programme for Indigenous Resources (CAMPFIRE) is a Zimbabwean community-based natural resource management program.
The project enables hunters to pay an extensive fee to be allowed to kill one large game animal, most often an elephant. The idea behind the project is that while some individuals of at-risk species would be killed, the longevity of these species would be secured by the funds received, as the hunted meat and profits would be given to the local communities for the development of schools, clinics, and wildlife research facilities.
The CAMPFIRE project was the first community-based wildlife conservation project to approach wildlife as a renewable, profitable resource. It serves as a model for some other indigenous conservation projects in Africa.
