the role of tourism in natural resource management in the okavango ...

The importance of people remaining as subsistence farmers in the rural economy of
the Okavango Delta should not be underestimated though. Efforts to support them
will, however, be more effective if they are appropriately cast in terms of poverty
alleviation rather than as rural development. As such, effective development should
concentrate and capitalize on those aspects of the rural economy appropriate to the
region, such as its pristine environment, water resources, tourism industry and
economic use of wildlife (Mendelsohn and el Obeid, 2004).
In an attempt to help address the high levels of poverty in the Okavango Delta's rural
areas, and provide the local population with the opportunity of utilising natural
resources to improve their livelihoods, as well as to address the lack of local
involvement in natural resource management, the Community Based Natural
Resource Management (CBNRM) programme was implemented in the Okavango
Delta. This gives local communities the chance to actively participate in the
utilisation and management of the areas' natural resources, and provides the
opportunity for local people to receive economic benefits from the conservation of
wildlife and other resources.
The following section introduces the concept of Community Based Natural Resource
Management (CBNRM) in the Okavango Delta, and discusses in detail the issues
associated with the implementation of this programme and its role in natural
resource management.
7.3 Community-Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM)
in the Okavango Delta
From the 1980s, community development and natural resource management have
become intertwined. Twyman (2000) notes that participatory and community based
approaches were heralded as the panacea to natural resource management
initiatives world-wide. In Eastern and Southern Africa, Community Based Natural
Resource Management (CBNRM) has been adopted as an approach that aims to
achieve rural economic development and natural resource management. After
almost ten years since its implementation in Botswana, and the Okavango Delta in
317