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Concerns about ecological sustainability and inequality are driving increased formalization of the natural product trade, including both biotrade of bulk, raw materials (or nontimber forest products [NTFPs]) and bioprospecting for genetic resources. However, there has been little interrogation as to whether the policy tools used to achieve sustainability and equity goals are appropriate and effective. This article addresses this gap by examining efforts to formalize biotrade, including the blurred regulatory lines that increasingly exist between biotrade and bioprospecting. Two case studies are explored from southern Africa—baobab andPelargonium. Findings emphasize the unintended consequences that can arise from overregulation and poorly formulated laws, including the further marginalization of women and/or poor communities; elite capture; weakening small businesses; and leakage across political boundaries. Conclusions underpin the need to pursue solutions that are better informed and more respectful of local knowledge and needs, and that draw upon both customary and statutory laws and institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental research is often conducted independently of the community in which the environment is situated, with transfer of results into policy and on-ground action occurring independently of the community's interests or aspirations. Increasingly the need for greater community involvement in the research process has been recognized. For community members, however, such engagement usually involves trade-offs. While it is often assumed that community members should participate voluntarily because they will gain from the research, any benefits from knowledge, understanding and a capacity to influence the research have to be offset against time and potential loss of unremunerated intellectual property. We argue, using case studies from tropical Australia and Africa, that a more effective means of engagement and knowledge transfer is training and remuneration of community members as coresearchers. This engagement is much more than payment for labor—it is investment in local intellectual property and requires researcher humility, power-sharing and recognition that access to research funding provides no moral or intellectual authority. Further, we argue that, for effective adoption of research results, community members need to be part of negotiated agreements on the initial nature of the research to ensure it answers questions of genuine local relevance and that local researchers have the capacity to place locally conducted research into a wider context. We argue that immediate rewards for involvement not only secure engagement but, where appropriate, are likely to lead to effective implementation of research results, enhanced local capacity and greater equity in intellectual power-sharing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent forest management initiatives in developing countries emphasize active participation of local people. However, many such attempts have been unsuccessful because little attention was directed at promoting conscious and joint learning processes. One way to enhance joint learning is through collaborative monitoring (CM) and reflection processes. This article explores the contribution that collaborative monitoring processes make toward improving forest management within a context characterized by multiple stakeholders with often-conflicting interests. The Mafungautsi case has shown that initiating CM processes requires careful facilitation of negotiations related to the goals, approach, sharing of information; and development of platforms on which learning will take place. We conclude, based on evidence from Mafungautsi, that CM processes can contribute to improving forest management in multistakeholder landscapes if sufficient attention is paid in creating appropriate reflection and learning platforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The last two decades of the twentieth century saw the emergence of new strategies for natural resource management throughout the southern African region. There has been a clear shift from the centralised and state-driven natural resource management regimes of the colonial period and the immediate post-independence years towards decentralised and mainly community-based management regimes. This approach is clearly articulated in theories of collective action and Common Property Resource Management (CPRM), in which the focus has been on getting the institutions right. Theories of collective management of water resources concentrate on productive irrigation water, thereby reinforcing notions of economic motivations for collective action. In this article, we discuss both individual and collective institutional arrangements for managing water resources, focusing on a case study area in southern Zimbabwe. Many rules governing water resource use are implicit or unwritten, rather than explicit and written. In most cases, these institutional arrangements allow conditional access based on appropriate use. Water is used for many purposes and the rules differ according to the type of use. Priority is given to cleanliness around the water sources, particularly where drinking water is concerned. This is key to determining who has access to water sources, especially those that are privately owned. The study shows that there is general compliance and minimal conflict over water use despite the lack of written rules, and regardless of the shift in boundaries of use during times of stress, such as during the dry season or in drought years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]