This publication examines how community based natural resource management (CBNRM) can inform and contribute to climate change adaptation at the community level, specifically to community based adaptation (CBA). It provides a framework for analysing the two approaches at conceptual and practical levels. Using case studies from southern Africa, the publication demonstrates the synergies between CBA and CBNRM. While local incentives have driven community action in CBNRM, it is the evolution of an enabling environment in the region, in the form of institutions, policies, capacity and collaboration which characterises the scaling up of CBNRM to national and regional levels. The paper finds that poverty reduction, governance and ecosystems are issues within CBNRM that resonate most for CBA. This is because these issues are amongst the key drivers of the objectives of both CBNRM and CBA.