Paper short abstract:

Drawing on data from community trusts which are part of Botswana's community based natural resource management program, we assess the viability of those trusts in light of the Botswana government's changes in the CBNRM policy. We suggest various ways that the grassroots conservation can be enhanced

Paper long abstract:

The Republic of Botswana in Southern Africa has supported community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) since 1990. Subsequent changes introduced by the government have reduced community control over wildlife management and utilisation: for example, a country-wide hunting ban introduced in 2014 eroded the rights of community trusts. The resumption of hunting in 2019 has favored safari businesses who have not shared benefits with indigenous communities, particularly those with hunter-gatherer economies. People in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, notably, have been purposely excluded from involvement in eco-tourism, despite the fact that it was their management that made this a hotspot of species biomass and diversity. Drawing on data from community trusts in Botswana, we assess community engagement in biodiversity conservation and CBNRM. Many of these trusts have sizable proportions of indigenous people, notably San, who traditionally have followed sustainable land use and resource management strategies, including using fire to enhance ecological stability and species diversity, and exploitation of their common resources at levels that do not exceed carrying capacity. The conclusions drawn include (1) a reduction in the viability of community trusts should be reversed, (2) the need for a revisiting of the government’s CBNRM policy, (3) the importance of ensuring de jure legal rights over land for communities in communal areas in the country. Fortunately, new projects, such as the Kgalagadi-Ghanzi Drylands Ecosystem Project (KGDEP) of the United Nations Development Programme promise to assist local communities through empowerment, capacity-building, and devolution of authority and responsibility to the community level.