Organisations and their approaches in community based natural resources management in Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe

This publication records the methods, lessons and experiences of organizations involved in CBNRM programmes in Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe, to enable organizations and communities to discover and learn from the implementation experiences of counterparts in neighbouring areas. The focus is on practical approaches, with a brief overview of the national CBNRM programmes and enabling legislation. The report is organized by country, and contains ‘Observations’ from each implementing organization. There is much well-known literature on problem issues but the attempt here is not to describe the dilemmas faced, but the practical solutions devised. The report is straightforward and simple, extracting useful lessons from CBNRM experiences in the four countries. Due to the brevity of the fieldwork in the study countries, there was no time for field trips to the communities. Thus, in this sense, the report contains a bias towards the agendas and perspectives of implementing organizations.