The conceptual evolution and practice of community-based natural resource management in southern Africa: past, present and future

2010 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 283-295 ◽  
Author(s):  
BRIAN CHILD ◽  
GRENVILLE BARNES
Keyword(s):  
Resource Management ◽  
Property Rights ◽  
Natural Resource Management ◽  
Natural Resource ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Political Organization ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Resource Governance

SUMMARYThis paper reviews the concept and practice of community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) as it has evolved in southern Africa, with a particular focus on Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia and, to a lesser extent, Zambia. It recognizes that, like democracy, CBNRM is both an imperfect process and a conceptual goal. The governance of economic processes, property rights and local political organization lie at the heart of CBNRM. The first challenge is to replace fiscal centralization, fees and bureaucracy (and the subsidization of alternative land uses) that have historically undervalued wild resources, so that CBNRM's comparative economic advantage is reflected in landholder and community incentives. Second, devolving property rights to communities shifts resource governance, responsibility and benefit appropriately to the local level. This necessitates accountable, transparent and equitable micro-governance, which in turn is linked to effective meso-level support and monitoring and cross-scale linkages between central government and local communities. This paper outlines the evolution of current models of CBNRM in the region and suggests core strategies for the next generation of CBNRM.

scholarly journals Decentralized Natural Resource Management: A Review of Devolution of Property Rights and People’s Participation

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 92-96
Author(s):  
Pratyusna Patnaik
Keyword(s):  
Resource Management ◽  
Property Rights ◽  
Natural Resources ◽  
Natural Resource Management ◽  
Natural Resource ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Natural Resources Management ◽  
Resources Management ◽  
User Groups ◽  
Over Exploitation

Recent decades have witnessed an increased attention towards emergence of decentralized strategies in natural resource management, as a solution to problems of over exploitation and degradation of natural resources. However, it is important to note that central to the processes of decentralisation in natural resource management is that of the concept of property rights. Successful decentralisation in natural resource management requires effective institutions be in place at local level with clearly defined property rights. In this context, the present paper analyses the process of changing property rights in decentralized natural resources management. It explores different forms of property rights and answers the question as to which type of property rights must be devolved to the user groups, if decentralized natural resource management is to be effective and sustainable.

scholarly journals Learning from Community-Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) in Ghana and Zambia: lessons for integrated landscape approaches

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 273-297
Author(s):  
S. Adeyanju ◽  
A. O'Connor ◽  
T. Addoah ◽  
E. Bayala ◽  
H. Djoudi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Resource Management ◽  
Natural Resource Management ◽  
Natural Resource ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Local Context ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Sub Saharan

Land use in much of sub-Saharan Africa is dominated by legislative frameworks based on a strong colonial legacy, focusing strongly on state control and minimal devolution of management responsibilities to local communities. However, attempts to reconcile conservation and socio-economic development by increasing stakeholder engagement in community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) have been undertaken since the late 1980s. Based on a review of published literature on historical land-use trajectories, the evolution of CBNRM, and key respondent interviews with NRM experts in Ghana and Zambia, this paper asks: What lessons can be learned from CBNRM to inform integrated landscape approaches for more equitable social and ecological outcomes? The paper discusses the positive characteristics and persistent challenges arising from CBNRM initiatives in both countries. The former being, improved rights and resource access, an established institutional structure at the local level, and a conservation approach tailored to the local context. The latter include the absence of multi-scale collaboration, inadequate inclusive and equitable local participation, and limited sustainability of CBNRM initiatives beyond short-term project funding timelines. The paper argues that integrated landscape approaches can address these challenges and improve natural resource management in Ghana and Zambia. We urge landscape practitioners to consider how the lessons learned from CBNRM are being addressed in practice, as they represent both challenges and opportunities for landscape approaches to improve natural resource management.

scholarly journals Coalitions for Landscape Resilience: Institutional Dynamics behind Community-Based Rangeland Management System in North-Western Tanzania

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (19) ◽  
pp. 10939
Author(s):  
Salla Eilola ◽  
Lalisa Duguma ◽  
Niina Käyhkö ◽  
Peter A. Minang
Keyword(s):  
Resource Management ◽  
Natural Resource Management ◽  
Natural Resource ◽  
Management System ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Institutional Arrangements ◽  
Community Based ◽  
External Threats ◽  
Institutional Actors ◽  
North Western

The past few decades have seen a continuing shift of natural resource management paradigm towards multifunctional and multi-actor adaptive management in hope of achieving more resilient landscapes. Recognizing the multitude of institutional actors and their roles as well as dynamics helps to understand communal behaviour, its manifestations in the landscape and resilience under changing socioecological circumstances. We examined institutional actors and their functions and relationships in a long-standing community-based natural resource management system, the ngitili, in north-western part of Tanzania. The aim of the research was to deepen understanding on the role of institutional arrangements and their limitations in supporting resilience of community-based management system. Data was collected through group discussions and interviews in three case study villages and district level, and institutional arrangements were analysed using 4Rs framework and social network analysis. The study shows that the management arrangements have evolved with time and are based on locally negotiated roles and collaboration among bureaucratic and socially embedded village level actors. These local level actors are resource poor, which hinders collaboration and implementation of ngitili management functions. External interventions have temporarily increased management efficiency in the villages but they did not create sustained multi-scale collaboration networks to address external threats to the ngitili resources. The results show that diversified funding sources, technical support and benefit sharing mechanisms are required to incentivize sustainable resource management. For the management system to be more resilient, the existing institutional actors and their ability to adapt should be nurtured by awareness raising, wider stakeholder participation and bridging organizations.

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