Community-based resource planning: studies from Zimbabwe and Northern Australia

A project was undertaken to enhance the capacity of resource managers, in particular the local occupants, to identify, plan and implement sustainable natural resource management options in tropical woodlands of Zimbabwe and northern Australia. The project involved the collaboration of government, non-government institutions and communities from both countries over a period of four years, from January 1998 to January 2002. Tools and techniques trialled in the project included: participatory methods, computer-based resource mapping and modelling, and multi-objective decision support systems. Although a number of unforeseen external factors were encountered that limited the full implementation of some aspects and tools, sufficient progress was made to draw some useful insights and conclusions about the utility of some individual tools and to postulate a new conceptual framework, a 'planning space', for their application.