THE UNIVERSITY OF LEIPZIG

in existence, it has focused almost exclusively on the management and commercial
exploitation of wildlife. 360
Bhenke informs that the configuration of land use is very important for maintaining the
habitat of the wildlife that generates the greatest revenues. 361 The above scholars’ discussion
though present a big case on the role of communities or more precisely community
involvement in the management of natural resources, does not spell out who does what at
what levels. The discussion though offers a place for equity, does not inform us whether
small-scale cooperatives or small scale resource users in this case have completely taken over
the role of the central authorities as actors in the use and management of natural resources.
While looking at the economies of configuration, it is also important to ask: Under which
mechanism and regime do the small cooperative institutions work? Is it under the norms
established by the communities or under the policies and guidelines stipulated by the central
and local government legal regimes? Answers to these and other questions raised in this
chapter will be of profound importance in debating biodiversity and the local of
decentralization in the subsequent chapter.
360 Metcalfe, S. 1994. Zimbabwe's Communal Areas Management Programme For Indigenous Resources in
Natural Connections: Perspectives in Community-based Conservation Washington D.C: Island Press.
361 Bhenke, R.H and I. Scoones. 1992. Rethinking Rangeland Ecology: Implications For Rangeland Management
in Africa. Working Paper No. 53. Washington D.C. The World Bank.
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