Assessing the suitability of community-based management for the Nyungwe Forest Reserve, Rwanda

This study assesses the perceptions of representatives from three stakeholder groups-local communities, a government agency, and an environmental organization-towards the suitability of community-based management (CBM) approach to the Nyungwe Forest Reserve (NFR), Rwanda. A strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) technique in combination with an analytic hierarchy process (AHP) was used to achieve the task. Results show that representatives of local communities perceive positive aspects of CBM outweigh its negative aspects. However, representatives of a government agency and a nongovernmental organization anticipate that weaknesses associated with CBM approach outweigh its strengths. Our analyses show that stakeholder groups view CBM differently, suggesting a need for better understanding about this approach. Implementation of CBM in small scales first along with outreach activities might bring stakeholders together and will ensure conservation and rural community stability. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.