IRDNC is a Namibian NGO whose role and activities have shifted significantly over the last twenty years in response to needs identified at a grassroots level. This has resulted in a long term conservation and development initiative.
 
IRDNC does what government and the private sector are unable to take on or trial over the short term:   Pioneer innovative approaches to sustainable resource management on communally owned land   Test approaches together with government and communities and assist in incorporating successes into national policy and legislation   Educate the private sector to engage with communal areas in an equitable way   Develop partnerships between government, private sector and community structures   Provide interim financial and technical support to enable improved resource management as well as the improvement of the quality of peoples lives in conservancies   Phase out support over time, leaving behind partnerships that continue without us.   More specifically IRDNC assists residents of communal areas:   To form natural resource based management units including (conservancies, community forests, grazing areas or fire management areas)   To develop locally initiated management frameworks within these management units that help enforce and guide local implementation:  
 
Introduce and support monitoring tools such as the Natural Resource Event Book system, to improve management decisions   Pilot innovative self insurance schemes to mitigate impacts of wildlife on livelihoods. [See discussion paper on HACCS (188 kb)].   To identify resources with income generating potential, assist in negotiating fair deals with the private sector that ensure that communities gain the skills over time to understand and engage with these enterprises meaningfully   To engage with government to improve legislation to enable sustainable management of resources.   IRDNC also assists the tourism private sector:   To understand the importance of their role in securing wildlife outside of parks   To understand the value of the resource base they are engaging with, the role of locally managed institutions and the need to engage meaningfully.   IRDNC also shares its lessons locally regionally and internationally through presentations, exchange visits, discussion papers and donor reports. Description from Namibia Nature Foundation Directory.