Community-Based Natural Resources Management
Communities around the world have always depended on natural resources for their livelihoods. Because of this dependence, some form of management has always been needed to ensure resources’ continued existence. Management systems have ranged from traditional leaders to government agencies, all establishing rules regulating resource use.
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Communities in Senegal have helped improve environmental
conditions through their involvement in local forest
management. |
Community-based natural resources management empowers communities to manage their local resources. The management is based on the premise that those who are most dependent on natural resources for their livelihoods have the greatest incentive to manage them responsibly, and often possess an intimate knowledge of their local resources.
In the developing world, where natural resources are an important source of wealth, empowering communities to manage resources has enormous social, economic, and environmental impacts. Local management of resources has the potential to improve the environment while involving communities in governance issues of direct relevance to them, and allowing them to derive economic benefits from this improved management.
USAID supports successful community-based natural resources management programs around the world that have helped communities become engaged in the management of local forests, wildlife, fisheries, and water resources. In Namibia, for example, USAID has supported a program involving communities in the management of local wildlife and the promotion of community-based tourism. Since the program’s inception in the early 1990s, springbok and oryx populations have more than doubled. In addition, community incomes have risen significantly — more than tripling from 1998 to 2001. Due to its success, participation is growing at an accelerating pace, and demand for these programs continues to outstrip the ability of governments and programs to respond.
More information about USAID’s approach to community-based natural resources management can be found in USAID’s Biodiversity Conservation Guide (6.81MB PDF).
Learn more about specific USAID community-based natural resources management activities at these project sites:
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