Community Based Natural Resource Management
There is no question that service and giving back to the community you live in is extremely important, however, managing community resources is also a significant part of serving it. However, in order to truly understand how best to serve the community through Community Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM), one must first determine what a community really is, and how CBNRM relates to it. According to the CBNRM manual distributed by the Southern African Wildlife College, “The term ‘community’ despite being widely used in social science, is seldom clearly defined. [However] There are a number of contexts that can help define what or who the community is. Communities can be functionally defined in several ways such as: through representative structures; by area; common interest; ethnicity; affinity; resource user group or; land use. Communities may be characterized by their variation (differences between social groups), variegation (diversification within social groups), and stratification (by wealth and power). A community can [also] be defined by a shared system of values and moral codes which provide members with a sense of identity (Elna, SAWC).” Therefore a community is a group of people that has a shared system of values, it can be diverse in ethnicity, but can be grouped together as broadly as people who live in a specific area. Managing the resources within a community takes strategy, communication, and an understanding of the community’s needs, as well as an understanding of their environment. CBNRM helps us understand how to do this and can be clearly defined as, “The substantial management of natural resource through returning control over or responsible authority for… resources to the community (Elna, SAWC).” This means giving control of community based conservation, protected area outreach, collaborative management, and joint forest management back to the community members, rather than through government oversight and control. Essentially, CBNRM practices give control of the environment back to the people.
“No community lives in isolation [rather it] is connected to others and to society in general. Communities are also dynamic and change over time, as well as having different meanings for different people and at different times (Elna, SAWC).” The result is an ever changing system that is essentially a globally connected system that must integrate with the group, the area, the region, the state, the continent, and the world. This proves in fact that we (humankind) are connected to everyone, everything, everywhere. In addition, it proves how complex CBNRM really is. And it all begins within a small group, a small community of people through training, rural development, changing the collective consciousness within that group and small community, and encouraging the concepts of CBNRM to be spread throughout the region, the state, the continent, and the world. No Easy task, but, it can be accomplished through education, and relating a common understanding as to why CBNRM is so important.
CBNRM is important because, “Over the past two to three decades there has been a changing focus in rural development thinking from supply driven, ‘top down’ to participatory, demand driven and, ‘bottom up’ approaches [to CBNRM] (Elna, SAWC).” And, “The important factor is that rights and responsibilities to use resources rest with the community (local) level rather than the state level (Elna, SAWC).” Therefore, the impact a community has on society in general is exceptionally large. For example, we often refer to ‘environmental impact’ or the human footprint as a way to relate to our impact on our local ecosystems. Meaning what we do as individuals affects our community, the region, etc. As a result, managing our local resources is essential to achieving a sustainable future.
There are several issues, however, “with using ‘community’ as an organizing principle for conservation [particularly] when we try to fit traditionally defined groups and systems into modern structures. For example, in Zimbabwe, the local authority has three or more tiers, namely district, ward or division, and the village (Elna, SAWC).” The result is a challenging system in which CBNRM becomes extraordinarily complex, and CBNRM experts are forced to educate all three tiers in order to effectively turn the management of resources over to the community. However, working from the ground up, meaning the individual, to a small group, to the first tier, to the second tier, to the third tier, can be an effective way to educate the totality of the community about why CBNRM is so important, and once the total community has been educated, resource management can be turned over to local/ community control – which undoubtedly serves the community in a more effective way. Ultimately, collaboration between CBNRM officials and the community is the key, and there are four essential characteristics that should be considered when trying to identify the best method for working together with a community. “These are cohesion, legitimacy, delineation, and resilience (Elna, SAWC).”
The term cohesion, “Refers to a sense of common identity and interest which brings people together and leads them to collectively differentiate themselves from others (Elna, SAWC).” Usually cohesion refers to a shared history in which a community is forced to share resources due to political, economic, and/ or a shared history. Therefore, cohesion is an important issue to consider because it is the ‘social glue’ that binds the community together, meaning CBNRM officials will have to learn, understand, and know how to work within the shared social structure of cohesion to effectively return CBNRM to the indigenous people within a specific area.
The term demarcation, “is usually based on spatial criteria, marking out a fixed land area and the resources on it. It may, however be drawn on the basis of socially authorized access to given resource categories, as in the case of pastoralism or some fisheries (Elna, SAWC).” This means that CBNRM officials would be working in a specific geographic area, specific ecosystem, or within a specific social or socioeconomic area. Therefore, demarcation is an effective way for CBNRM to return resource management to the group within the demarcated area.
Legitimacy, “Can be conferred by an external authority, but this on its own is not sufficient. More important is internal legitimacy arising from socio-cultural and socio-economic criteria. In many cases that provide legitimacy at the local level is at odds or in conflict with the criteria which modern… states impose on rural populations, and it is the persistence and adherence to them that creates tension and conflict (Elna, SAWC).” Therefore, establishing legitimacy internally and externally is essential to returning resource management to the people within a community. This can be done in several ways including working with government officials, working with local officials, and educating the local population.
“Resilience and risk [can be defined as]… adaptive management (Elna, SAWC).” It is now clear to CBNRM officials that, “In the rapidly changing world… the components of organizations are dynamic. The roots of social cohesion may change in their substance and combinations. Boundaries of jurisdiction and affiliation may shift. The sources of legitimacy may change. [Therefore,] Effective organizations must accommodate this change over time. Resilience [therefore,] …is the right and capacity to adapt in content and structure, [thus] …allowing it to do so and is a key tool in the management of risk in uncertain environments and livelihood systems (Elna, SAWC).” Ultimately this means that the world is an ever-changing place, and, the effective result is that CBNRM officials must work within, as well as understand the changing environment they are working in.
Knowing what community is, and understanding the aforementioned characteristics, is a useful tool when turning CBNRM over to the people that are directly affected by, and effect the environment in a specific area. However, understanding the concept of participation is equally important. “The concept of participation is now firmly entrenched as a key principle in development and conservation theory and practice. This is part of a fundamental shift in development thinking over the past twenty years, which has sought to move from being capital central to people centered, and based on the need for a radical shift in emphasis from external professionals to local people (Elna, SAWC).” This means that CBNRM professionals are working from the ground up. The local level is the priority because communities that understand what is at stake have been shown to make greater strides in conservation. And, this is the case with almost anything. To be more precise, when people understand how what they do to the environment affects them directly, communities tend to work more effectively together to accomplish the task at hand. It is, therefore, understanding the direct impact that makes a difference. In this way, getting a community to participate in action connects them directly to the effect of their actions thusly stimulating positive behavioral change.
In conclusion, Community Based Conservation has been around for decades. From the pre-colonial era, to the colonial era, through current time, modern societies have recognized a need to conserve wildlife, conserve natural resources, and minimize the impact of human effects on rural, socioeconomic, and social communities. The human footprint can change ecosystems, can bring invasive species to a community, can bring devastation, desecration, and harm to a community. And, it is the responsibility of CBNRM professionals to educate communities about their impact, how it is harming their environment, as well as how to make the necessary changes that will help create a sustainable future for the community, which affects the region, which affects, the state, which affects the world. Effective CBNRM provides a resource with a focused value, can result in differential benefits to a community, generates a positive correlation between management and quality of the benefit, benefits the unit of proprietorship, and helps small groups/ communities effectively manage their own resources. It is through CBNRM that communities become aware of their impact, and it is through CBNRM that we can request legislative action, and it is through ground up CBNRM action that communities can create a sustainable future for their own unique ecosystem, the region, the state, and ultimately… the world.
Reference:
Professor Elna. Southern Africa Wildlife College (SAWC). Community Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) handbook, 2015
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