Community-Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) has become an important approach to restructuring social relations and governance and to promoting livelihoods and natural resource management practices in many parts of the world. Many people believe CBNRM has, in fact, successfully curtailed state-centered, top-down resource management practices and illegal extraction of resources. However, some people think the approach has supported neo-liberalization and de-concentration processes, and created another layer of elite dominance at the local level. In the context of emerging local institutions, the growing concerns of civil society, and weak national and local governance mechanisms in managing natural resources, it was essential to undertake a study to explore the strengths and weaknesses of community-based groups and networks in the management of natural resources, linking policies and local-level practices.
