Establishing inclusive resource management models in the Pacific

WORLDFISH July 14 2022

July 28 marks the 2022 instance of Earth Overshoot Day, the date when humanity’s demand for ecological resources and services in a given year exceeds what Earth can regenerate in that year. 

WorldFish advocates for equitable and sustainable resource management across the Pacific. In one such effort, WorldFish researchers have written Assessing inclusion in community-based natural resource management: A framework and methodology to aid in the development of equitable, inclusive and sustainable resource management tools at the community level.   

Community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) is a common governance approach, which posits that local communities reliant on a specific resource have the right to manage it, are the most knowledgeable about that resource and as a result know the best ways to manage it. This approach gives agency to local communities rather than external stakeholders, as the former has both width and depth of knowledge needed, based on interacting with and managing specific resources every day. 

However, even though CBNRM is more inclusive in principle than other methods, it does not always address pre-existing intra-community barriers that prevent less powerful groups from participating equitably in gender-inclusive CBNRM decision making. In fact, sometimes, CBNRM might reinforce these impediments. 

“In our research, we examined many CBNRM initiatives and found that while they all aimed to increase inclusion of women, this was often only measured by counting the number of women attending meetings or events,” said Philippa Cohen, a co-author of the publication.  

See more https://www.worldfishcenter.org/blog/establishing-inclusive-resource-management-models-pacific