Climate changes: poverty reduction and natural resource management under pressure' Is community base

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Climate changes poverty reduction and natural
resource management under pressure. Is
community based natural resource management
(CBNRM) one of the answers?By Iben
NathanForest Landscape, Denmark (FLD), Faculty
of Life Sciences, University of Copenhagen.
Email in_at_life.ku.dk This presentation, among
other things, refer to a technical note
elaborated jointly by FLD and TAS based on input
from a wide range of resource persons. The
purpose of the technical note is to provide
guidance for development support to programmes
and components with focus on CBNRM.
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Is CBNRM one of the answers?
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Yes
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• Thank you
• for your attention!

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Contents

• What is CBNRM?
• What are the links between climate changes,
  poverty and natural resources?
• Why is CBNRM one of the answers?
• Scope and limitations of CBNRM

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1. What is Community Based Natural Resource
Management (CBNRM)?

• Local communities get responsibility for and
  access to natural resources. This often implies
  sharing of responsibilities and benefits with the
  State.

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2. What are the links between climate changes,
poverty and natural resources

• Climate changes disproportionately affect poor
  communities especially those in poor countries
• Climate changes will put natural resources under
  pressure
• Poor people depend on natural resources
• Thus, climate changes will increase the needs for
  poverty reduction and for natural resource
  management

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3. Why could CBNRM be one of the answers?

• CBNRM combines the objectives of poverty
  reduction and natural resource conservation
  without losing sight of good governance
• Sustainable natural resource management requires
  genuine involvement by the social actors who
  depend on the resource.
• CBNRM aims to secure the rights of poor and
  marginalised groups in relation to the natural
  resource on which they depend
• CBNRM requires decentralisation which is one of
  the important means to foster good governance
• CBNRM involves local groups in decision making.
• People are more likely to respect decisions they
  have participated in taking
• Local people are likely to identify and
  prioritise their environmental problems more
  accurately than centralised organisations
• CBNRM empowers community members and direct
  resource users

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3. Scope and limitations of CBNRM

• Making CBNRM work requires that benefits exceed
  costs for the communities
• and clear enforceable rules about rights,
  revenues,
• responsibilities and relationships

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CBNRM is still in its infancy!
3. Scope and limitations of CBNRM (cont.)

• There is no systematic documentation for CNRM
  having worked on all the objectives but then

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CBNRM is a solution for some problems - not for
all problems, and even raises new problems
3. Scope and limitations of CBNRM (cont.)
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Scope and limitations of CBNRM (cont.)

• CBNRM is local but dealing with it is not (only)!
• The dilemma of the State
• The importance of CBNRM linking up the national
  level

National level Politics and legal frameworks
Intermediate level Linking CBNRM to public
sector reforms
Local-level Rights, responsibilities, revenues
and relationships
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Conclusion

• Is CBNRM one of the answers?
• Yes, but
• CBNRM is not a one-off solution to poverty,
  resource degradation, and climate changes. Rather
  it is a development process and a constant power
  struggle.
• The greatest challenge is how to overcome the
  divide between the national and the local to make
  sure that CBNRM becomes financially and
  politically significant and has genuine support
  from the State!