Zimbabwe CAMPFIRE — Communal Areas Management Programme for Indigenous Resources

The Communal Areas Management Programme for Indigenous Resources (CAMPFIRE) has operated since 1989 under Zimbabwe's Parks and Wildlife Act. Rural District Councils (RDCs) hold 'Appropriate Authority' status, letting them market controlled wildlife access — mainly safari hunting and ecotourism — on communal land on behalf of resident communities, across more than 50 communal areas covering over 2 million hectares.

The programme aims to make wildlife conservation economically competitive with agricultural land conversion by channelling wildlife-related revenue directly to the communities that bear the costs of living alongside wildlife.

RDCs negotiate and sell hunting concessions and ecotourism access, then distribute the proceeds to communities, historically for social infrastructure such as schools, health clinics and boreholes. A 2022 statutory reform raised the community revenue share from the previous 52–60% split to 100%.

Between 1989 and 2001, CAMPFIRE generated more than USD $20 million for participating communities, about 89% of it from sport-hunting concessions. From 2009 to 2016, total revenue was USD $11.9 million, of which USD $6.4 million (54%) was disbursed to communities. Zimbabwe now holds Africa's second-largest elephant population, estimated at over 82,000 individuals, and the model has been replicated or has inspired similar programmes in Zambia, Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia and Tanzania.

CAMPFIRE also carries significant, well-documented governance problems: corruption and elite capture have diverted community revenue in some District Councils, the 2014 US ban on elephant trophy imports cut a major revenue source, and land seizures during Zimbabwe's Fast Track Land Reform disrupted several CAMPFIRE areas.