Illegal Pangolin Trade in Namibia: Governance Gaps, Power Relations, and Conservation Challenges

This project contains a research manuscript based on a Master's thesis examining illegal pangolin trade in Namibia. The study investigates the enabling factors and power relations that shape illegal wildlife trade (IWT), with a particular focus on the role of rural community marginalisation. Drawing on 32 semi-structured interviews with multiple stakeholder groups, including local community members, conservation NGOs, government authorities and wildlife experts, the research applies a social-ecological systems framework combined with a political ecology perspective. The findings highlight how structural inequalities, fragmented governance, and global economic dynamics influence conservation outcomes and contribute to the persistence of wildlife trafficking. The study proposes a "marginalisation-IWT nexus", arguing that involvement in trafficking is closely linked to systemic exclusion from decision-making processes rather than poverty alone. The manuscript is shared as a preprint to make the research accessible and to contribute to ongoing discussions on community-centred conservation and wildlife governance.