Who gains from saving nature
Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Trophy hunting revenue · Zimbabwe · 2010–2015

CAMPFIRE and elephant trophy hunting

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
People
  • 96 people died.
    Killed by wildlife in nine districts, 2010–2015; more than half by elephants.
What the record lacks: 3 none on record · 1 not measured · 1 disputed See the gaps

Hunters paid $17 million in nine districts over six years. About $1.24 million went to law enforcement; households received about $13 a year, mostly as projects.

≈ 7% estimateShare of hunters' payments to law enforcement
Estimate, 9 districts, 2010–2015.
What?
Zimbabwe's CAMPFIRE programme returns trophy-hunting revenue to rural districts. In nine districts from 2010 to 2015 hunters paid $17m; wards received $6.63m and district councils spent $6.2m, about 40% on administration and 20% on law enforcement. African Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics
Where?
Nine rural districts in Zimbabwe. African Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics
When?
The programme began in 1989; the revenue study covers 2010–2015; the CAMPFIRE Association made its submission to the US Fish and Wildlife Service in December 2016. CAMPFIRE Association (via SCI)
Who?
Gained
Lost
Harmed
Why?
The programme's stated purpose is to return hunting revenue to rural communities; in 2016 the CAMPFIRE Association argued that allowing US elephant trophy imports means "the survival of elephants in Zimbabwe would be enhanced". CAMPFIRE Association (via SCI)
How?
Foreign hunters pay trophy fees and daily rates; under the guideline at least 55% goes to wards, 26–35% to district councils for wildlife management, 15% as a council levy and 4% to the CAMPFIRE Association. African Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics
In proportion Of every $1 paid by hunters, about 7 cents went to law enforcement and protection (estimate). African Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

Zimbabwe's CAMPFIRE programme returns hunting revenue to rural districts. About 90% of its income comes from hunting, 70% from elephants.

In nine districts from 2010 to 2015, hunters paid $17 million in trophy fees and daily rates. Wards received $6.63 million; district councils spent $6.2 million, about 40% on administration and 20% on law enforcement.

In the same period, 7,000 hectares of crops were damaged and 96 people were killed by wildlife, more than half by elephants.

  1. 1989Programme begins
  2. 2010Study period starts
  3. 2015Study period ends
  4. 2016Submission to US Fish and Wildlife Service on trophy imports

What was said

Claims, in the words of those who made them.

“The survival of elephants in Zimbabwe would be enhanced.”

How it looked

What was shown, beside what was recorded.

Shown

  • Hunting pays for conservation
  • Communities benefit

Recorded

  • About $13 per household per year, mostly as ward projects
  • 96 people killed by wildlife in six years
  • Safari operators' share of daily rates: not quantified

Who gained

Money that reached nature, beside money that stayed elsewhere.

Reached nature or the ground

≈ $1.24m
Council law enforcement and protection estimate$1.24m
About 20% of $6.2m.

Gained elsewhere

Not totalled
Council administration estimate$2.48m
Wards (communities)$6.63m
Safari operators' share—
Not quantified in any source.
Paid by hunters
$17m
Reached the ground
≈ $1.24m*
Of every $1 paid by hunters, about 7 cents went to law enforcement and protection. estimate
Currency: USD · Window: 2010–2015. All figures cover the same period. * Estimate built from cited figures.

In court and with insurers

Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

Lawsuits and rulings

No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.

Insurers

No insurer decision on record.

What nature saw

Outcomes measured on the ground, and nature's note.

Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.

Elephant quota used
≈ 60%
667 elephants, 2010–2015
Independent outcome evaluation
None opened

What we don't know

Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
No court caseNo independent ecological evaluationKey earnings undisclosedDeaths reported

Nature

  • Not measured Harm to nature: No independent ecological evaluation is on record.

Money

  • None on record Safari operators' share — Not quantified in any source.

Court

Record

  • None on record Safari operators' revenue share.
  • Disputed Community share across countries is contested (one estimate: about 3%, commissioned by animal-welfare groups).

Did the harm stop?

Not applicable.

Who paid?

Rural households: crop losses, cattle losses and 96 deaths from wildlife in six years.

Sources

Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts— Press and investigations✓ Communities and civil society✓ Researchers

Communities and civil society

  1. The role of trophy hunting of elephant in Zimbabwe
    CAMPFIRE Association (via SCI) · 2016

Researchers

  1. CAMPFIRE revenue analysis (Mwakiwa)
    African Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics · 2019
  2. Frost & Bond: CAMPFIRE revenue 1989–2001
    Ecological Economics · 2008

Connected cases

Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
Terms used on this page

Places and local terms

Trophy fee
The fee a hunter pays to kill an animal and keep its trophy, such as tusks or a skin.
Ward (Zimbabwe)
The smallest local administrative unit in rural Zimbabwe; under CAMPFIRE, wards receive a share of hunting revenue.

Science and environment

Hectare (ha)
A unit of area equal to 10,000 square metres, about 2.5 acres. 100 hectares make one square kilometre.
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