Community Based Natural Resource Management in Zimbabwe: Opportunities and Constraints

Interest in Community Based Natural Resources Management (CBNRM) developed as a result of a general despondency with State management of these resources. There is general agreement on the desirability of CNBRM. Numerous programmes and projects currently implemented as CBNRMs bear evidence to this. However, the applicability of CBNRM across geographical and social boundaries still remains unanalysed. For example is CBNRM autarchy? If it is not, as evidence from programmes and projects shows, what roles do the community state play, with what consequences? This paper discusses the constraints faced in efforts to establish CBNRM programmes in areas that are held under communal tenure. It is concluded that both the community and the state have complimentary relevance by virtue of the situational niches they occupy. These niches are a consequence of structural constraints emerging from the design of CBNRM programmes, physical and ecological attributes of the resource base, institutional arrangements and the resulting patterns of interaction among stakeholders. Review of Southern African Studies Volume 3 No. 2 December 1999, pp. 61-74