Mwape Sichilongo
Practitioner Fellow at World Wildlife Fund
Location:
Mumbwa District, Zambia
Project Title: Institution Building and Economic Micro-Projects for Promoting Sustainability in Community-Based Natural Resource Management Project (CBNRM)
Publications and Presentations: Institution Building and Economic Micro-Projects For Promoting Sustainability in Community-Based Natural Resources Management (CBNRM) | Executive Summary
Project Description
Studies have shown that the main contributing factor to illegal exploitation of natural resources by rural communities is food insecurity and lack of alternative sources of income.
Mwape Sichilongo's research documents how organizing local communities into small economic interest or commodity groups linked to natural resources can improve their participation in natural resource management and promote ownership of interventions and continuity.
"This is intended to overcome two main problems," said Mr. Sichilongo. "The first is the high levels of poverty that force communities to exploit natural resources in an unsustainable way as a coping mechanism in times of stress. The second is the limited capacity of institutions for resource management at the local and national level."
The approach of working with communities for conservation is accepted in Zambia as a policy option that creates incentives for communities to play a bigger role in the conservation and sustainable use of natural resources through community-based natural resource management (CBNRM).
The main challenges affecting community participation in conservation of natural resources in Zambia include inadequate community resource rights, limited benefits that have little or no impact at household level, and partial recognition of communities as local resource managers. One of the major directions in enhancing community participation is institution building, so that communities engage with other stakeholders in conservation more effectively and lobby for their own interests and those of conservation.
"My research has found that integrating economic and social development aspects targeting the empowerment of individuals and households improves chances for sustainability in rural areas," said Mr. Sichilongo.
Biographical Information
Mwape Sichilongo holds an M.S. in conservation biology. His career started as a volunteer youth conservation activist, chairing the Lusaka League of Conservation Clubs (later known as Youth Conservation Volunteers) before joining the Lupande Development Project in the Lupande Game Management Area as a research assistant and community relations officer, particularly in implementing participatory approaches and natural resource monitoring.
He joined the Wildlife Conservation Society of Zambia, where he served for 16 years. He was appointed to the board of directors of the newly created Zambia Wildlife Authority as a member and later as chairperson from 1999 to 2001. He also served on numerous government policy initiatives in natural resources management, and he wrote a weekly environmental column in one of the main newspapers in Zambia for nine years.
Mr. Sichilongo has undertaken technical assignments on behalf of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, The United Nations Development Programme, Frankfurt Zoological Society, World Wide Fund for Nature, Wildlife Conservation Society of Zambia, Zambia Wildlife Authority, and the Ministry of Tourism, Environment, and Natural Resources. He has also undertaken many facilitation and reporting tasks in capacity building, program reviews, planning, and negotiations at national and community levels.
He currently works as an advisor on community-based natural resource management issues and serves on the Operations and Technical Committee of the Zambia Wildlife Authority. He is also associated with the Natural Resource Consultative Forum in Zambia, which is in its formative stages. His research interests include protected area management, stakeholder relations, international conventions, CBNRM, and policy development.
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