The current fashion in some aid circles for micro-credit schemes is an example. Rachel Stringfellow and colleagues argue that cooperative projects often require greater group management skills than are possessed by the people they are intended to benefit. Such social approaches require careful tailoring to local circumstances, and integration with existing community institutions. At the same time, for local approaches to succeed, they must be backed up by supportive national and international policies. This implies a refocusing of aid programmes and national land use policies.
Wildlife conservation is a classic example.
Exclusion of people in favour of wildlife and the tourist trade has created poverty and conflict. This Western approach to conservation is hard to justify today - and, as the decline of the tiger shows, it does not always deliver its conservation objectives. Some countries, like Sri Lanka and Kenya, have recognised these contradictions and are starting to address them. Putting new policies for land management into practice is a slow, but essential task. Handing back stewardship over their resources to local communities and farmers allows them to develop management strategies and supportive community institutions, that meet diverse local needs.