Livelihood opportunity and diversity in Kalahari Wildlife Management Areas, Botswana: Rethinking community resource management

The livelihood opportunities open to people, and the diverse portfolios of activities that make lip a living, are now key areas of conceptual and empi rical research. Similarly, community-based natural resource management init iatives are currently receiving wide-spread attention in both policy and ac ademic circles. This paper draws on research conducted in western Botswana, which examined community development and wildlife management in a Kalahari Wildlife Management Area. It focuses on the livelihood dynamics of residen ts living in two remote settlements in the Wildlife Management Area. These livelihood dynamics are closely linked with the complex history of resource use and conflict in the area. Hunting and gathering, two key livelihood ac tivities, are examined in detail. The paper argues that, although the natur al resource base has changed, and use of natural resources has in many case s dwindled, livelihoods based on these resources remain important in terms of cultural identity symbolic significance and as a real and perceived safe ty net in times of stress. These findings have both positive and negative c onsequences for the proposed community-based natural resource management in itiatives in the area. The dynamics of people's livelihoods are nor always recognised by those implementing the changes. Community-based natural resou rce management projects have the potential to embrace social justice and ec ological sustainability. However they also have the potential to undermine rural populations' individual and collective actions to manage their resour ces base and maintain viable livelihood strategies at a range of levels.