Outcomes of community engagement in community-based natural resource management programmes

Abstract

Although the last century has witnessed exciting strategies in resource management in the form of community-based natural resource management (CBNRM), these developments are more incremental than revolutionary. CBNRM falls into the wider development debate on the role of the state, particularly in the context of the development of Africa. Stakeholders, located at different levels along the international, national and local continuum, have differing views on this debate based on their experience and ideologies. These positions determine the form and practice of CBNRM, through negotiation, contests, collusions and intrigue. Case studies of the implementation of CBNRM in Zimbabwe and Botswana show both opportunities in terms of community benefit and wildlife conservation, and risks in the form of domination of communities by NGOs, the state and the private sector.