Natural resources

The exchange visit was designed to enable directors of various government departments from SADC states to examine the Mahenye community's CAMPFIRE project in the southeast lowveld in Zimbabwe, as a working model of CBNRM principles. Specifically, the objective was to contribute to the development of an enbaling environment that will facilitate CBNRM being accepted as a key element in economic development strategies.

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.

This report is on the first national conference on CBNRM that was a culmination of a series of three workshops on key topics in CBNRM, namely: community mobilization, enterprise development and natural resource monitoring and management. The objectives of the conference were to reflect on the progress made so far in implementing CBNRM activities, to consider the recommendations from the workshops and to deliberate the way forward.