The State and Community-based Natural Resource Management: The Case of the Moribane Forest Reserve, Mozambique

Dry forests, livelihoods and poverty alleviation: understanding current trends

“…Pilot schemes that don't give meaningful power to local actors are said to be unlikely to be successful (Wily 1999;Matose 2006). Schafer and Bell (2002), based on Mozambique experience, suggest that the state reluctance to devolve control over natural resources stems from the desire of forestry personnel to protect the forests above all else, the economic interests of state agents in valuable natural resources, and the unwillingness of politicians to allow local control in areas sympathetic to the opposition.…”

Inequality and Social Conflict Over Land in Africa

“…A situation found in other African countries as well as described for Russia and other former Soviet countries where imposed privatization policies have had the same result (Stark 1990;Humphrey 1999). groups (Hoben et al 1998;Schroeder 1999a;Ribot 1999;Alexander and McGregor 2001;Hammar 2001;Schafer and Bell 2002).…”

Borderland migration, mining and transfrontier conservation: questions of belonging along the Zimbabwe–Mozambique border

“…McDermott Hughes (2001) observed that land alienation connected to ecotourism and conservation projects in Rusitu-Haroni valley (Zimbabwean side of Chimanimani) precipitated conflicts between small-scale farmers and conservation agencies (see also Chidhakwa (2003) for analysis of resource conflicts in relation to the Department of the National Parks and Wildlife Management and the Forestry Commission). Schafer and Bell (2002) further documented power-laden contestations in some of the conservation areas in Chimanimani, arguing that the state can use natural resource management schemes 'as a means to extend its reach in rural areas, rather than devolving control to local communities' (401).…”

“…In the 1990s and early 2000s, work exploring social and cultural dimensions of resource management in the Chimanimani region focused on situations where Mozambicans took refuge on the Zimbabwean side of the border in the face of civil war and forced displacement (McDermott Hughes 2001;Schafer and Bell 2002). Conversely, there was an increased flow of people from Zimbabwe to the Mozambican side of the border due to economic crisis in the mid-2000s (Derman and Kaarhus 2013).…”