Wild resources management in Southern Africa: participation, partnerships, ecoregions and redistribution

In rural southern Africa, access to wild resources is critical to livelihoods & various attempts have been made by policymakers to increase the income derived from them by poor communities. This article examines the existing & emerging institutional arrangements in the tourism/safari hunting & forestry sectors & assesses their impact on livelihoods. Case studies of wildlife & forestry management initiatives are drawn from the Eastern Cape (South Africa), Chiredzi district (Zimbabwe) & Zambezia province (Mozambique). Four types of initiative are described: community participation, partnerships, or joint ventures between communities & the private sector; & ecoregional conservation & redistributive measures. A key trend is the emergence of a number of policy approaches that seek to link private sector tourism & forestry operations with community or local involvement, usually with an emphasis on "pro-poor" commercial investment. The danger is that these policies will constrain more than they enable poor people's access to resources & income & will benefit local elites, the private sector & the state more than the poor. However, where the state is willing & able to prioritize local issues when trade-offs arise &/or communities have firm legal or de facto rights over land with high commercial value, the new "pro-poor" policies for the management of wild resources do hold out some hope for improving rural livelihoods. 11 References. Adapted from the source document.