Resource Management

Strengthening Community-based Natural Resource Management

Community-based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) is a means for local communities to manage and benefit from the natural resources in their area. These resources include plants and animals that they choose to use for either subsistence or commercial purposes to support their livelihoods and implement locally prioritised development projects.

CBNRM is in various stages of development in the nine countries where our network operates. In some countries, CBNRM has fully matured – it supported by government policies and networks of non-governmental organisations, whereas in others it has not yet fully developed or does not receive sufficient support.

As a network spanning these different stages of development, we seek to strengthen CBNRM policies and support networks in all of our countries. We do this by sharing lessons learned from countries where CBNRM has been established with those that are still in the development phase, and introducing new ideas from the newer CBNRM programmes into the older ones as part of an adaptive management cycle.