Mx Marina Tavolaro

"Understanding the community based natural resources management (CBNRM) system in Namibian communal conservancies" (Prof Justin O’Riain, Prof Stephan Redpath, Dr Chris Brown)

Marina Tavolaro is a PhD student at iCWild whose research aims to better understand and tackle conservation conflicts in Namibian communal conservancies. The community based natural resources management (CBNRM) system, which links conservation to poverty alleviation through sustainable use of natural resources, is a key development strategy for rural Namibia. By better integrating the underpinning social context with the material impacts and evaluation of conflicts across communal conservancies, she hopes to enhance effective conflict management and long-term conservation benefits.

Marina holds a MSc by research from Bristol University (UK) and a BSc Hons in Zoology from University of Aberdeen (UK). She previously worked as a researcher on the wildlife-livestock interface in southern Africa at Onderstepoort (University of Pretoria) and then worked for two years as a consultant at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations before starting her PhD.