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PODCAST: Mitigating Conflict Through Natural Resource Management

MARCH 2008—Masego Madzwamuse, David Bray Discuss How Local Natural Resource Management Can Promote Good Governance, Peace

New research suggests that strengthening local natural resource management (NRM) can also improve governance and reduce the risk of violent conflict. Community involvement in governing natural resources is vital to successful conflict prevention, however. In this ECSP podcast, Masego Madzwamuse of the World Conservation Union's (IUCN) Region of Southern Africa office describes how IUCN's Community-Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) Support Programme in Botswana helps communities manage their own rangeland, forests, and water. Illustrating NRM-governance-conflict connections in a different part of the world, David Bray of Florida International University recounts his work in two adjacent watersheds in Guerrero, Mexico—one where strong community-led NRM helped prevent conflict, and another where weak community institutions contributed to violent situations.

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