These successes show the potential for community-based management to empower and enrich local communities and still manage ecosystems well. But CBNRM is no panacea, and it is by no means always pro-poor. Both the power and benefits associated with community management tend to be directed toward higher income classes unless specific accommodations are made. In pursuing pro-poor CBNRM, communities, governments, and NGOs must keep in mind several points:
Accounting for the Costs of CBNRM
Community management of ecosystems sometimes entails substantial costs that must be accounted for and minimized. One of the major costs of many community-management schemes is the short-term loss of the use of a resource to allow it to recover or to keep its use within sustainable levels (Shyamsundar et al. 2004:10). This ldquo;opportunity cost
