Transfrontier Conservation Areas and Human-Wildlife Conflict: The Case of the Namibian Component of the Kavango-Zambezi (KAZA) TFCA

Our study deals with human-wildlife conflicts in the Namibian component of the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA TFCA). The study reconstructs the historical occurrence of selected mammal species and adopts a socio-ecological approach to assess the impact of human dimensions in the KAZA TFCA. Our results reveal pronounced human–wildlife conflicts with considerable impacts on the livelihoods of communities. Human–wildlife conflict has the potential to become a significant contributor to the failure of the TFCA concept. Conflicts are influenced by a growing human population and large mammal species re-colonising formerly abandoned areas. Mapping the occurrence of selected mammal species over time reveals an interesting picture: although conservation initiatives have led to an increase in the population size of selected species, their occurrence is more restricted than in times of heavily decimated wildlife populations. The increasing restriction of wildlife to protected areas reduces the resilience of the ecosystem. To sustainably manage and conserve wildlife populations, a bigger picture including areas outside of the current borders of KAZA TFCA should be considered. This could support re-connecting ecologically important areas for congested populations to move to and reduces the concentration of wildlife and pressure on the land and people of the region.