NRM

• Natural resource management refers to the management of natural resources such
as land, water, soil, plants and animals, with a particular focus on how management affects
the quality of life for both present and future generations (stewardship).
• Natural resource management deals with managing the way in which people and
natural landscapes interact. It brings together land use planning, water
management, biodiversity conservation, and the future sustainability of industries
like agriculture, mining, tourism, fisheries and forestry. It recognises that people and their
livelihoods rely on the health and productivity of our landscapes, and their actions as stewards
of the land play a critical role in maintaining this health and productivity
History
• The emphasis on sustainability can be traced back to early attempts to understand the
ecological nature in the late 19th century, and the resource conservation movement of the same
time. This type of analysis coalesced in the 20th century with recognition that
preservationist conservation strategies had not been effective in halting the decline of natural
resources. A more integrated approach was implemented recognising the intertwined social,
cultural, economic and political aspects of resource management. A more holistic, national and
even global form evolved, from the Brundtland Commission and the advocacy of sustainable
development.
Ownership regimes
• Natural resource management approaches can be categorised according to the kind and right
of stakeholders, natural resources:
• State property: Ownership and control over the use of resources is in hands of the state.
Individuals or groups may be able to make use of the resources, but only at the permission of
the state. National forest, National parks and military reservations are some US examples.
• Private property: Any property owned by a defined individual or corporate entity. Both the
benefit and duties to the resources fall to the owner(s). Private land is the most common
example.
• Common property: It is a private property of a group. The group may vary in size, nature and
internal structure e.g. indigenous neighbours of village. Some examples of common property are
community forests.
• Non-property (open access): There is no definite owner of these properties. Each potential user
has equal ability to use it as they wish. These areas are the most exploited. It is said that
"Everybody's property is nobody's property". An example is a lake fishery. Common land may
exist without ownership, in which case in the UK it is vested in a local authority.
• Hybrid: Many ownership regimes governing natural resources will contain parts of more than
one of the regimes described above, so natural resource managers need to consider the impact of
hybrid regimes. An example of such a hybrid is native vegetation management in NSW,
Australia, where legislation recognises a public interest in the preservation of native vegetation,
but where most native vegetation exists on private land.
Management of the resources
• Natural resource management issues are inherently complex. They involve the ecological cycles, hydrological cycles, climate,
animals, plants and geography, etc. All these are dynamic and inter-related. A change in one of them may have far reaching
and/or long term impacts which may even be irreversible. In addition to the natural systems, natural resource management also
has to manage various stakeholders and their interests, policies, politics, geographical boundaries, economic implications and
the list goes on. It is a very difficult to satisfy all aspects at the same time. This results in conflicting situations.
• After the United Nations Conference for the Environment and Development (UNCED) held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, most
nations subscribed to new principles for the integrated management of land, water, and forests. Although program names vary
from nation to nation, all express similar aims.
• The various approaches applied to natural resource management include:
• Top-down (command and control)
• Community-based natural resource management
• Adaptive management
• Precautionary approach
• Integrated natural resource management
Community-based natural resource management
• The community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) approach combines conservation objectives with the generation
of economic benefits for rural communities. The three key assumptions being that: locals are better placed to conserve natural
resources, people will conserve a resource only if benefits exceed the costs of conservation, and people will conserve a resource
that is linked directly to their quality of life. When a local people's quality of life is enhanced, their efforts and commitment to
ensure the future well-being of the resource are also enhanced. Regional and community based natural resource management is
also based on the principle of subsidiarity.
• The United Nations advocates CBNRM in the Convention on Biodiversity and the Convention to Combat Desertification.
Unless clearly defined, decentralised NRM can result an ambiguous socio-legal environment with local communities racing to
exploit natural resources while they can e.g. forest communities in central Kalimantan (Indonesia).
Adaptive management
• The primary methodological approach adopted by catchment management authorities (CMAs) for regional natural
resource management in Australia is adaptive management.[6]
• This approach includes recognition that adaption occurs through a process of ‘plan-do-review-act’. It also
recognises seven key components that should be considered for quality natural resource management practice:
• Determination of scale
• Collection and use of knowledge
• Information management
• Monitoring and evaluation
• Risk management
• Community engagement
• Opportunities for collaboration.
Integrated natural resource management
• Integrated natural resource management (INRM) is a process of managing natural resources in a systematic way,
which includes multiple aspects of natural resource use (biophysical, socio-political, and economic) meet
production goals of producers and other direct users (e.g., food security, profitability, risk aversion) as well as goals
of the wider community (e.g., poverty alleviation, welfare of future generations, environmental conservation). It
focuses on sustainability and at the same time tries to incorporate all possible stakeholders from the planning level
itself, reducing possible future conflicts. The conceptual basis of INRM has evolved in recent years through the
convergence of research in diverse areas such as sustainable land use, participatory planning, integrated watershed
management, and adaptive management. INRM is being used extensively and been successful in regional and
community based natural management.

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• Natural resource management refers to the management of natural resources such

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