scholarly journals Community-based natural resource management: governing the commons

Water Policy ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 9 (S2) ◽  
pp. 83-97 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Fabricius ◽  
S. Collins

Community-based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) focuses on the collective management of ecosystems to promote human well-being and aims to devolve authority for ecosystem management to the local (community) level. CBNRM therefore requires strong investments in capacity development of local institutions and governance structures. CBNRM has come under strong criticism for its failures to deliver real benefits to communities. In this paper we explore the reasons for the frequent failure of CBNRM. We postulate that good governance buffers CBNRM against unexpected change, notably conflicts, especially in the early stages when income generation, infrastructure development and capacity development have not yet taken place. We assess the key characteristics of CBNRM governance systems that could perform this buffering function, using case study examples from Macubeni, Nqabara, Makuleke and Richtersveld to support our propositions. In our case studies, 11 strategies have been used to increase the incidence of success of CBNRM: understand and describe the social-ecological system; establish and communicate a clear vision; build on local organizations; plan ahead; create rules for resource use and enforce them; communicate the vision, plan and rules; develop management capacity; finance the initial stages of the initiative; work within available legal frameworks; monitor and learn all the time; and create lasting incentives. Despite these strategies there are, however, a number of obstinate implementation challenges, related to governance shortcomings and external factors which management cannot control. We therefore propose seven additional strategies to promote good governance in CBNRM: 1. Develop knowledge networks that draw on the experience and wisdom of a wide range of key individuals. 2. Establish formalised decision-making structures (e.g. multi-level project steering committees) with clear constitutions and codes of conduct. 3. Clearly define and legitimise conflict resolution procedures. 4. Ensure acceptance of the governance structure by community members. 5. Obtain formal commitment to well-defined roles and responsibilities by key individuals. 6. Establish tangible incentives to key individuals for meeting their commitments. 7. Develop the capacity for facilitation to promote communication. Local communities, government and scientists have important roles to play in maintaining these knowledge and governance networks through adaptive co-management.

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (18) ◽  
pp. 10162
Author(s):  
Margaret Ndapewa Angula ◽  
Immaculate Mogotsi ◽  
Selma Lendelvo ◽  
Karl Mutani Aribeb ◽  
Aina-Maria Iteta ◽  
...  

Scholars of gender and climate change argue that gender-blind climate change actions could exacerbate existing inequalities and undermine sustained climate change adaptation actions. For this reason, since 2017, the Green Climate Fund placed gender among its key programming prerequisites, making it the first multilateral climate fund to do so worldwide. However, to date, no lessons to inform planned gender-responsive ecosystem-based interventions in Namibia have been drawn from community-based natural resource management. Thus, this paper aims to share key lessons regarding the way in which gender assessment is useful in enhancing equity in an ecosystem-based adaptation programme for the Green Climate Fund. To this end, we conducted in-depth interviews and group discussions in the 14 rural regions of Namibia with 151 participants from 107 community-based natural resource management organisations (73.5:26.5; male:female ratio). The results identified gender imbalances in leadership and decision-making due to intersecting historic inequalities, ethnicity and geography, as well as other socio-cultural factors in local community-based natural resource management institutions. We also identified income disparities and unequal opportunities to diversify livelihoods, gendered differentiated impacts of climate change and meaningful participation in public forums. Overall, the assessment indicates that considering gender analysis at the initiation of a community-based climate change adaptation project is crucial for achieving resilience to climate change, closing the gender gap, building capacity to increase equity and empowering women in resource-dependent environments in Namibia and Sub-Saharan Africa more broadly.


2005 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 95-124 ◽  
Author(s):  
Larry A. Swatuk

Community based natural resource management (CBNRM) programs presently proliferate across the Global South. In Southern Africa, CBNRM overwhelmingly focuses on wildlife conservation in areas adjacent to national parks and game reserves. The objects of these development activities are remote communities that exhibit the highest levels of poverty in the region, the consequences of which are sometimes resource degradation. CBNRM seeks to empower and enrich the lives of these communities through the active co-management of their natural resource base. Almost without exception, however, CBNRM projects have had disappointing results. Common explanations lay blame at the feet of local people who are seen to lack capacity and will, among other things. This paper contests this explanation by subjecting the particular case of Botswana to a deeper, critical political ecology analysis. Drawing on insights from Homer-Dixon regarding resource capture and ecological marginalization, and from Acharya regarding the localization of global norms, the paper argues that CBNRM is better understood as a discursive site wherein diverse actors bring unequal power/knowledge to bear in the pursuit of particular interests. In Botswana this manifests at a local level as an on-going struggle over access to land and related resources. However, given that CBNRM is supported by a wide array of international actors, forming perhaps the thin edge of a wider wedge in support of democratization, good governance and biodiversity preservation, locally empowered actors are forced to adapt their interests to the strictures of emergent structures of global governance. The outcome is a complex interplay of activities whereby CBNRM is realized but not in a form anticipated by its primary supporters.


2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 59
Author(s):  
Kartika Sari Septanti ◽  
NFN Saptana

<p>Lowland conversion to non-agriculture use improves along with economic growth. Various attempts have been exerted by the government to reduce lowland conversion. Local wisdoms throughout the regions in the country are potential to control lowland conversion. This paper aims to explore the role of local wisdoms in Indonesia and other countries in controlling lowland conversion. Some local wisdoms in Indonesia potentials for lowland conversion control are : tunggu tubang, mundang biniak, oloran sawah, Suku Samin, Buyut Cili, tradisi Ngarot, Kasepuhan Sinar Resmi, Suku Baduy, Subak, Suku Dayak, and pangale hutan. Some measures to take for empowering those local wisdoms, are: (i) incorporating local wisdoms into school education curriculum; (ii) developing a community-based natural resource management system, namely increasing participation of local people in land resource management.</p><p> </p><p>Abstrak</p><p>Konversi lahan sawah ke nonsawah marak terjadi seiring pesatnya pertumbuhan ekonomi. Berbagai upaya telah dilakukan pemerintah untuk menekan laju konversi lahan sawah ke nonsawah, namun belum menunjukkan hasil yang optimal. Indonesia memiliki kekayaan kearifan lokal yang tersebar di seluruh nusantara yang berpotensi menghambat tingginya laju konversi lahan sawah ke nonsawah. Tulisan ini membahas kearifan lokal di Indonesia serta di beberapa negara yang telah dan akan dikembangkan untuk mempertahankan lahan sawah. Beberapa contoh kearifan lokal di Indonesia antara lain: tunggu tubang, mundang biniak, oloran sawah, Suku Samin, Buyut Cili, tradisi Ngarot, Kasepuhan Sinar Resmi, Suku Baduy, Subak, Suku Dayak, dan pangale hutan. Tantangan kearifan lokal pada masa depan semakin berat karena adanya pertumbuhan jumlah penduduk, pertumbuhan ekonomi, serta perubahan sosial masyarakat yang mendesak lunturnya nilai-nilai kearifan lokal. Beberapa strategi untuk mempertahankan kearifan lokal dapat dilakukan dengan cara: (1) memasukkan ke dalam kurikulum pendidikan;  (2) mengembangkan sistem pengelolaan sumber daya alam berbasis komunitas, yaitu peningkatan partisipasi masyarakat lokal dalam pengelolaan sumber daya lahan.</p>


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