Hanging in the balance : equity in community-based natural resource management in Asia

Abstract

The Millennium Development Goals remind us of the fundamental relationship between poverty reduction and equitable and sustainable development. Community based approaches to natural resource management aim to work on these processes concurrently. However, there are diverse views on the effectiveness of Community Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) in supporting benefit sharing and increasing the voice of marginalized groups. This book brings together a set of papers that particularly examine the potential of CBNRM initiatives to contribute to equity in Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Nepal, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. These papers were developed at the 'Eleventh Workshop on Community Management of Forest Lands: Equity in CBNRM,' which was co-facilitated by the East-West Center and RECOFTC and funded by the Ford Foundation.