Open Society Initiative of Southern Africa (OSISA)

Resource Africa (RA) has worked in the community based natural resource management (CBNRM) sector in SADC since 1999, and specialises in the development and strengthening of institutional capacity and governance systems. This work is integrated with policy development, lobbying, and programme development, with a number of partners which include Ministries of Environment, Departments of Wildlife and National Parks as well as local governments in the southern African region, namely in South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. 

RA is a South African registered NGO (Registration 1996/004810/08) not-for-profit Section 21 company. RA has developed expertise in the use of community theatre and photo stories as they relate to CBNRM, dating back to 1997/8, when the Southern African Sustainable Use Specialist Group commissioned a piece of theatre to be developed and presented at the IUCN triennial congress in Montreal. 

This successful initiative demonstrated the value of theatre as a tool for communication in the context of CBNRM and has given rise to a succession of community-based theatrical projects. In 2009, for COP 15, RA developed a theatre production; a documentary and photo stories focusing on scenario planning with climate change, mitigation and adaptation as the focal points. 

Drawing upon this regional network, RA has produced theatrical pieces for the World Summit on Sustainable Development, the World Parks Congress, the Third World Conservation Congress and various other international events.