ABSTRACT
The Community-Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) programme has been implemented in East and Southern Africa for 30 years to achieve biodiversity conservation and improved rural livelihoods. The programme assumes that if rural communities derive benefits from natural resources, they will be obliged to use such resources sustainably. Using the sustainable livelihoods framework, this chapter analyses the effects of the CBNRM programme on rural livelihoods and biodiversity conservation in Southern Africa, using Botswana as a case study. Data were obtained from secondary sources and from a review of existing literature. Results indicate that the CBNRM programme has had mixed results. Where it succeeded, rural communities have forgone their traditional livelihood activities such as hunting and gathering and livestock and crop farming to participate in the CBNRM programme. In these cases, basic needs such as shelter, employment, income and social services including water supply systems, transportation, scholarships and payment of funeral expenses are now provided to community members and funded with income from CBNRM projects. Social capital has been improved to manage CBNRM projects and biodiversity conservation. As such, wildlife species which were once declining in some areas have been restored and populations increased. These results suggest that the CBNRM programme in the case of Botswana is largely achieving its goal of improved livelihoods and biodiversity conservation, contradicting claims to the contrary.
