“What are the livelihood and equity measures in community Resource Management?”
Community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) combines development to combat poverty, hunger, and disease with the conservation of the natural resource base (water, soil, trees, and local biodiversity).
Considering the surrounding environment as an integral component of the community and considering the community as a landscape feature. The ability of communities to participate in decisions on the planning and development of conservation programs that impact them is strengthened by the recognition of the interdependence between community well-being and ecological health.
The health and welfare of those whose only access to food and money comes from the natural environment are crucial. Many people around the world who reside in isolated villages with limited access to the outside experience this.
They rely on the land to give them enough food to feed their family all year long and enough money to pay for housing, clothing, and medical care.
People who depend on the land for their livelihoods are suffering as a result of changing climates, environmental harm from slash-and-burn farming, the abuse of pesticides, and numerous other factors. People who depend on ecosystems are often left vulnerable as a result of changing climates’ tendency to make ecosystems less predictable.
Important components of the strategy include:
Collaboration among many stakeholders, including communities, governments, and NGOs, and encouraging coordination amongst them.
Mechanisms for managing conflicts amongst stakeholders over natural resource use provide support for processes.
Collaborative fact-finding and analysis produced through participatory action research results in a shared perspective for action.
Strong local organizations, such as inter-village networks and groups of forest farmers, are constructed from the ground up.
Services that benefit livelihoods and the environment. By tying environmental protection to agricultural and community businesses, we try to make it last. By connecting highland environmental services to lowland and urban areas, you can create chances for reinvestment.
To stop unlawful encroachment causing environmental degradation, policy support and law enforcement are crucial.
Building shared responsibility and decision-making among all stakeholders through cooperative management plans for natural resources is the goal of collaborative management plans. Healthy ecosystems and communities are the results of this.
Monitoring the base of natural resources and putting the management plan into practice through participatory monitoring and evaluation helps to foster learning, trust, and accountability.
The ultimate test of the sustainability of community-based natural resource management initiatives is gender and social justice in access to and control over natural resources.
Clean water is key
Access to safe drinking water for people as well as water for farming and livestock is a top need. A fundamental human right and need, access to clean water and sanitation are essential for enhancing health and promoting social and economic development.
Successful development depends on access to clean water. Crops cannot grow to their full potential if water sources in communities are far away, insufficient, or tainted. Even if there are nearby medical facilities, their ability to treat patients effectively will be greatly reduced if they lack access to clean water or proper sanitation. Families may be eager to adopt simple, effective methods for better hygiene and sanitation, but they cannot do so without access to water.
Working with the community to manage the water system is one of the innovative approaches to addressing the problem of water in communities. The management of water distribution, preservation of the land surrounding the water source, maintenance, and repair of the physical system, as well as specific financial and administrative regulations pertaining to the water program, are all aspects of a water project that require community involvement. World Neighbors water projects are long-lasting and are maintained by the locals when combined with education on hygiene, food preparation, and the importance of clean water for good health.
Alternatives to pesticides
Each year, very hazardous pesticides are inhaled by thousands of adults, children, and infants, causing lifelong harm to their eyes, skin, and central nervous systems. These substances are frequently kept in residences where they are also manufactured in open drums and administered with faulty backpack sprayers. Even worse, kids frequently consume poisonous pesticides after mistaking them for soft drinks when they are stored in bottles.
Despite the fact that worldwide pesticide makers claim to be worried about the reckless use of pesticides, their studies reveal that the safe application of pesticides in rural areas of developing countries is challenging, if not impossible. However, they continue to aggressively market even the most dangerous goods there. However, many nations lack the judicial systems and democratic political systems necessary to take on the powerful agrochemical sector.
Although the situation with harmful pesticides in underdeveloped countries is serious, there is yet hope. A novel approach called Farmer Field Schools is being promoted by organizations like World Neighbors, the International Potato Center, and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. It trains farmers in sustainable agriculture practices that aim to reduce reliance on agrochemicals while increasing productivity.
Because they both centers on the idea of responsible stewardship of regional resources and ecosystems, resource management and sustainable agriculture are closely related. Because we consider a community’s needs holistically, promoting community-based resource management often goes hand in hand with supporting sustainable agriculture.
The goal of community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) is to promote sustainable resource management while enhancing the power and participation of the rural poor. Equity is the allocation, distribution, and political and economic influences on decision-making. However, equity also covers the interactions between various roles, levels, and conflicts of interest (such as daily livelihoods versus national parks) as well as cross-generational issues. Speaking of equity in terms of “fair share” also begs the question of whose standards are being used to determine what constitutes a fair share. Definitions are based on culture, and some cultures may view the exclusion of women as appropriate from a traditional perspective. The literature on CBNRM focuses on minimizing inequality.
The livelihood opportunities and income of tourism communities are significantly influenced by livelihood assets. Spatial disparities are frequently present depending on the type of natural tourism communities and their level of development. It is possible to identify the livelihood assets that play the most important role in the development of sustainable livelihoods and income generation in the community by using the method of sustainable livelihood and looking at the primary factors that affect community income from the perspective of spatial heterogeneity. This makes it possible to give more logical advice on tourism destination management.
Political, economic, and social policies encourage sustainable lives by promoting the growth of partnerships that benefit both individuals and the entire biosphere. A broad policy framework that promotes sustainable livelihoods must include the following elements:
1. An investment in people, the environment, and physical capital;
2. An explicit recognition that women’s empowerment is essential to the achievement of broad-based socioeconomic goals;
3. Broad public participation in the establishment of research priorities;
4. An assessment and selection of technologies compatible with the needs of sustainable communities; and
5. New resources taking into account the needs of sustainable communities.
Conclusion
The enormous opportunity for such communities to become major stakeholders in conservation—and frequently the political imperative—remains largely unrealized while poor rural communities are still marginalized. Even where better, more equitable governance and increased community voice and agency are supported politically, there is frequently little understanding of what this actually means, how to measure progress, and how to learn from experience.