Environmental Conservation

Table of Contents - March 2010 - Volume 37, Issue 01 (Thematic section. Community-based natural resource management (CBNRM): designing the next generation (Part 1))  

THEMATIC SECTION: Community-based natural resource management (CBNRM): designing the next generation (Part 1)

From hope to crisis and back again? A critical history of the global CBNRM narrative

WOLFRAM DRESSLERa1 c1, BRAM BÜSCHERa2a3, MICHAEL SCHOONa4, DAN BROCKINGTONa5, TANYA HAYESa6, CHRISTIAN A. KULLa7, JAMES MCCARTHYa8 and KRISHNA SHRESTHAa9

a1 School of Social Sciences, University of Queensland, Australia

a2 Institute of Social Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands

a3 Department of Geography, Environmental Management & Energy Studies, University of Johannesburg, South Africa

a4 Center for the Study of Institutional Diversity, Arizona State University, USA

a5 Institute for Development Management and Policy, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK

a6 Institute for Public Service, Seattle University, Seattle, WA, USA

a7 School of Geography and Environmental Science, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia

a8 Department of Geography, Pennsylvania State University, USA

a9 Faculty of Architecture, Design and Planning, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia

SUMMARY

Community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) has been on the ascendancy for several decades and plays a leading role in conservation strategies worldwide. Arriving out of a desire to rectify the human costs associated with coercive conservation, CBNRM sought to return the stewardship of biodiversity and natural resources to local communities through participation, empowerment and decentralization. Today, however, scholars and practitioners suggest that CBNRM is experiencing a crisis of identity and purpose, with even the most positive examples experiencing only fleeting success due to major deficiencies. Six case studies from around the world offer a history of how and why the global CBNRM narrative has unfolded over time and space. While CBNRM emerged with promise and hope, it often ended in less than ideal outcomes when institutionalized and reconfigured in design and practice. Nevertheless, despite the current crisis, there is scope for refocusing on the original ideals of CBNRM: ensuring social justice, material well-being and environmental integrity.

(Received September 02 2009)

(Accepted December 18 2009)

(Online publication June 14 2010)

Keywords:

Correspondence:

c1 Correspondence: Dr Wolfram Dressler e-mail: w.dressler@uq.edu.au