In the past two decades we have seen dramatic developments in the understanding of equitable and
sustainable natural resource management. These have been informed and backed by innovation and
research, not least that supported by IDRC, Canada’s International Development Research Centre. The
old ideas of command and control, of blaming poor people for mismanagement of their resources, have
been overturned. As this book shows, the results can be truly remarkable.
Researchers and other outsiders change their mindsets, behaviours, attitudes, and ideas about their
roles. They become convenors, facilitators, negotiators, and supporters. Local people become the main
actors, learners, managers, and owners of the process of change. The goals of equity for people who
live at the margins, and of sustainable management, are approached and achieved by starting not with
natural resources but with people, enabling them to empower themselves, and by coevolving systems of
comanagement.
The evidence that such approaches work stands out from the cases reported in this book. The practical
lessons are empirically based. These are not the fond imaginings of idealists but the hard findings of
experience. And the outcomes, lessons, and practical implications are clearly and succinctly
summarized
