For many decades now, the management of natural resources in Zambia has been exclusively a responsibility of government. There has been little or no consideration for the active participation of local communities and/or other stakeholders. Laws suggested that, and some still suggest all resources were vested in the President and were therefore to be so administered and managed by government on behalf of the people. This meant that all land became property of the state and traditional systems and other private landholders had no rights on the utilisation and management of land and its resources.
But through the committed efforts of Government, the international Conventions and other natural resource based Organisations, a new era dawned in Zambia and we have seen the transformation of old policies and laws regarding the management and utilisation of Zambia's natural resource base. We have witnessed a transfer of ownership of certain land categories (including forests) to traditional management and private land use (Lands Act of 1995). This new era has enhanced joint management and utilisation of forests and other land use systems. So far we have had a number of jointly managed programmes on pilot basis and these have included the Luangwa Integrated Rural Development Programme (LIRDP), the Administrative Management Design (ADMADE) and the Provincial Forestry Action Programme (PFAP). These are natural resource based management programmes, which have so far shown that, well managed; joint programmes may lead to the achievement of sustainable management and utilisation principles.
Communities are therefore actively getting involved and accruing benefits from the consumption and sale of both wood and non-wood forest products. Positive results are being achieved in these programmes because the best knowledge on forest products and services in each locality is usually found in local people who traditionally use different forest products in their daily lives.
