Case studies of community-based wildlife management projects in southern Africa suggest that several key variables are important in determining outcomes: quality of governance, fit to context, integration across scales, and strength of reciprocal learning among diverse stakeholders. This article proposes a general model to serve as a framework for future research that would encourage progress toward defining and measuring these variables more consistently. Although acknowledging that improved analysis will not make the profound structural obstacles facing community-based wildlife management in the region more tractable, the article argues that a systematic research program following the proposed model will provide useful additional input into the adaptive, participatory project management practices now favored.