Chibhememe Community Project.

The last decade has witnessed a rapid growth of Trans- boundary Natural Resources Management (TBNRM) initiatives in southern Africa. Examples include the flagship Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park (Zimbabwe, Mozambique and South Africa), The Four Corners (Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe) and ZIMOZA (Zimbabwe Zambia and Mozambique). These initiatives are a response to the reality that the environment is a shared resource whose management has national, regional and international implications. TBNRM initiatives are co-operative frameworks under which neighbouring countries that share resources jointly develop mechanisms for sustainable environment and natural resources management. There are so many purposes for which TBNRM initiatives are developed. These include political, cultural, economic and environmental. However, they are primarily aimed at promoting effective management of ecosystems that do not recognise political boundaries. Laws and policies play an important role in the governance of TBNRM as they define access, level of stakeholder participation and power relations.

Relevance of TBNRM Initiatives to Southern Africa

There are a number of factors that make TBNRM co-operations a pertinent issue in southern Africa. Firstly, most of the region’s natural resources like wildlife, fisheries, rivers and forests are shared by more than one country. As such, regional co-operation in the management of these regional commons is not an option but a necessity. Secondly, political development in the region has made it feasible for states to co-operate on issues like natural resource management. The end of apartheid era in South Africa and civil wars in Mozambique and Angola has made co-operations that were unthinkable a decade ago due to perceived threats to sovereignty, possible.

Economically, these initiatives possess a lot of potential as a vehicle for economic growth and development in the region. An increased flow of tourists and the eco-tourism ventures that these initiatives are expected to generate can go a long way in improving the livelihoods of rural communities within TBNRM Areas.

Objectives of the program

ZELA does not develop and implement TBNRM initiatives in the region. What it does is policy and legal research on these initiatives to assess their impact on the management of shared resources and community livelihoods. These initiatives are a double-edged sword. If they are properly done, they have the potential to lead to regional development, peace and stability. However if they are not thought out and executed, they have the potential to reinforce pre-existing tensions that may lead to regional conflicts and instability which will impact negatively on the management of shared ecosystems. The aims of this programme are therefore to:

• Understand how the differences in laws and policies have affected the management of shared resources.
• Analyse how the harmonisation of laws and policies governing access to shared resources can be used as an incentive to promote equitable and sustainable communities in the TBNRM Area.
• Understand the impact of TBNRM initiatives on community tenure rights and livelihoods.
• Come up with policy and legal recommendations on how future TBNRM initiatives should be developed in the region so as to reduce conflicts among border communities while simultaneously enhancing biodiversity conservation and improving livelihoods.

Conclusion

Through this programme, ZELA hopes to play a meaningful role in assessing and recommending the best practices for the management of shared resources in the region and the role of law and communities for their effective implementation and success. We hope to achieve this by working closely with other non-governmental organizations, affected communities and policy makers.

Trans Boundary Natural Resource Management

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