Recent legislation in Namibia has enabled the people who live in communal areas to establish a ‘conservancy’ on their land in order to utilise natural resources, including wildlife. However, a number of problems have already arisen in developing such common property resource management institutions. These include: the definition of community and of boundaries; competing interest groups within communities; competition between conservancies and other institutions; differences in scale between appropriate social units and resource management units; uncertain land tenure, and differential support capacity to assist all the communities wishing to form conservancies.~Even so, many communities have managed to overcome these difficulties and though it is too early to measure the impacts of conservancies on wildlife or local livelihoods, there are indications of small, but positive trends and benefits. Benefits to local communities are of both a financial and non-financial nature, including the provision of accountable leaders and a participatory decision-making process that includes women. If these benefits are to continue however, a more co-ordinated government support must remain responsive to community needs. Indeed, much will depend upon the extent to which conservancies can fit into nested levels of decision-making and defend their rights at higher levels.

1. Assessing pollution from tannery effluents in a South Indian village - K. Anbalagan, G. Karthikeyan and N. Narayanasamy. ~2. Participatory action research for a small industries promotion programme - Torsten Striepke. ~3. Participatory concept mapping to understand perceptions of urban malnutrition - Dan Maxwell, Margaret Armar-Klemesu, Lucy Brakohiapa and James Annorbah-Sarpeil. ~4. Visualisation as a platform for entry into dialogue with farmers - Ueli Scheuermeier and Elias T. Ayuk. ~5. Using participatory appraisal methods to review a sanitation and hygiene programme in Southern Niger - Christine van Wijk. ~ Special Issue: Participation and fishing communities: ~6. Addressing the challenges of fisheries development - Marie-Thérèse Sarch. ~7. Mapping change in time and space: floodplain fishing communities in Nigeria - David Thomas and Mamuda Musa Danjaji. ~8. Participatory methods for community-based coastal resource management - Gregory C. Ira. ~9. Customary marine tenure in the South Pacific: the uses and challenges of mapping - Philip Townsley, James Anderson and Chris Mees. ~10. Investigating systems of fisheries access along the River Benue in Nigeria - Marie-Thérèse Sarch, S.P.Madakan and B.L. Ladu. ~11. Local voices to the surface - Andy Inglis, Hugh Govan and Susan Guy. ~12. Participatory student research increases awareness of sustainable fisheries management - Ian G. Baird, Phongsavaht Kisouvannalat, Visay Inthaphaysi and Bounpheng Phvlaivanh. ~13. Getting fisherfolk off the hook: an exploratory PRA in Southern India - R. Ramesh, N. Narayanasamy and M. P. Boraian. ~14. Participatory group planning of a fish preservation project - Nembo Nkwentie. ~15. From invisible work to collective action: research and participation with women from the fishing communities of the Amazonian coast - Maria-Luzia Alvares and Maria-Cristina Maneschy. ~16. Participatory and integrated policy processes in small-scale fisheries - Jock Campbell and Philip Townsley. ~17. The lasting elements of PRA port profiles in Conakry, Guinea: lessons for sustainability - Jan Peter Johnson and Seny Camara. ~18. Feedback: Developing participation - Anil C. Shah with a response from Kudakwashe Murwira. ~19. Extracts: Getting your head above the water - S.T.S. Lepcha and K. J. Virgo. ~20. A brief guide to using exercises and games to enhance group dynamics. ~21. Tips for trainers.