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

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 August 2010

BRIAN CHILD  and
GRENVILLE BARNES
BRIAN CHILD*
Affiliation:
Geography Department and Center for African Studies, University of Florida, Gainesville 32611, Florida, USA
GRENVILLE BARNES
Affiliation:
School of Forest Resources and Conservation, University of Florida, Gainesville 32611, Florida, USA
*
*Correspondence: Dr Brian Child Tel: +1 352 392 0494 Fax: +1 352 392 8855 e-mail: [email protected]
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Summary

This 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.

Keywords

CBNRMCBNRM evolutionCBNRM governanceCBNRM historyCBNRM lessonssouthern Africa
Type
THEMATIC SECTION: Community-based natural resource management (CBNRM): designing the next generation (Part 2)
Information
Environmental Conservation , Volume 37 , Issue 3: Thematic section. Community-based natural resource management (CBNRM): Designing the next generation (Part 2) , September 2010 , pp. 283 - 295
Copyright
Copyright © Foundation for Environmental Conservation 2010

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