After the Romance: Communities and Environmental Governance in the Philippines

Amidst the difficulties of meeting consumption needs of localities far from the country’s cosmopolitan centers, Karin L. Gollin and James L. Kho discuss the promising prospect of community-based natural resource management (CBNRM). The picture that CBNRM paints is one where sustainable development is more attainable, and communities are more empowered, but, as it turns out, its plans have not been without their challenges in implementation. Gollin and Kho weigh the arguments for and against CBNRM, and whether or not it can be at least part of the solution to the problems of Philippine society.