Certificate in Wildlife Economy, Governance, & Community

Advanced professional training for those leading conservation on Africa’s working landscapes

A screenshot of an online lecture delivered by Dr. Brian Child on Zoom. The lecture slide shows findings from a governance survey conducted in Westgate Conservancy in Kenya indicating low community participation in governance.

START DATE

20 Aug 2026

Online courses begin first

APPLY BY

31 July 2026

Complete form below

FORMAT

Online + Field

2 semesters + 2-week capstone

FEES

Contact for details

Scholarships available

About The Course

Click to expand and read program details.

  • The Wildlife Economy Paradigm
    Online
    Why do some wildlife landscapes thrive while others collapse? This course covers the institutional economics, property rights frameworks, and market dynamics that determine whether wildlife becomes a competitive landscape use, drawing on southern Africa’s pioneering reforms.

    Governing Communities & the Commons
    Online
    Grounded in Ostrom’s commons theory and real CBNRM case studies, this course builds practical expertise in community governance design, participatory democracy, benefit-sharing, and institutional accountability across scales.

    Field Capstone: Wildlife Economy in Practice
    Southern Africa - 2 weeks
    An intensive field immersion course based at high-performing private game farms and wildlife enterprises. Participants see first-hand how wildlife functions as a competitive land use and receive hands-on training in the governance dashboard and the operations room.

    • Institutional diagnostic skills to identify why conservation systems succeed or fail, using economics and governance analysis rather than ecological assessment alone.

    • Community governance expertise, from designing constitutions and accountability structures to building benefit-sharing mechanisms and participatory decision-making.

    • Wildlife economics proficiency to evaluate and communicate the value of tourism, hunting, and wildlife enterprises to communities, investors, and policymakers.

    • Practical field tools including governance dashboards, spatial decision-support systems, and wildlife pricing frameworks.

    • A professional network across Africa’s conservation and CBNRM community with 80+ alumni from 10+ countries and growing.

    • A pathway to graduate study: top performers may be nominated for Master’s or PhD programmes at Stellenbosch University through the Fonseca Leadership Programme.

Faculty

Dr. Brian Child
Professor, University of Florida

Programme founder; managed CAMPFIRE (Zimbabwe), CBNRM (Zambia), and conservation systems in Kafue and South Luangwa

Dr. Alex Chidakel
Wildlife economy researcher, field practitioner across southern and East Africa

Aaron King
Online education specialist and CBNRM governance scholar

  • Conservation field managers

  • Protected area practitioners

  • Community development professionals

  • Government wildlife officials

  • NGO programme staff

  • Graduate students working in or entering the wildlife economy and CBNRM

Who Should Apply