Comanagement of natural resources : local learning for poverty reduction

The co-management of natural resources implies that responsibilities and benefits are shared among diverse stakeholders, including governments. Six case studies in Cambodia, Vietnam, Ecuador, Bhutan, China and Lebanon demonstrate, that even in very difficult circumstances it is possible to introduce successful natural resource co-management schemes. Substantial investments in time-consuming learning-by-doing and capacity building paid off for all parties involved.
An important accomplishment of these research projects has been the development of new field methods and capacities for participatory, integrated, and interdisciplinary research within organisations where these did not previously exist. It resulted in new standards. It stimulated new ways of thinking about the very kinds of knowledge to manage natural resources wisely and introduced new foundations of co-management.
Some of the key recommendations are : 1) put people at the centre; participatory action research leads to positive changes that could never have been imposed from the outside, 2) learn by doing; in the development and introduction of resource-management strategies, knowledge gained by the resource users through practice and application should be matched with knowledge acquired by formally trained researchers, 3) help communities secure their access to natural resources; co-management arrangements should begin with efforts to ensure that the right of local people to use natural resources are recognised as legitimate and guaranteed by law, 4)
deliver early returns on livelihood priorities of the poor; community and organisational development is a long-term process based on trust, the potential gains from resource co-management by improving their livelihood should be demonstrated quickly.