The purpose of this guidance note is to provide an overview of the salient social issues relating to natural resource management (NRM) sector activities and to discuss practical ways of applying social analysis in the design, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation of Bank-financed NRM operations. Natural Social Analysis Guidelines on Natural Resource Management 7 resource management demands attention to crosscutting and cross-sectoral issues, perhaps to an even greater degree than other areas of development. Many natural resources are subject to multiple uses by multiple users with overlapping and contested claims, evoking a plethora of social, institutional, and governance issues. This note presents a conceptual framework for social analysis in NRM projects and offers task teams useful information and guidance on how to integrate social analysis into each part of the NRM project cycle. The note may also inform meso- and macro-level social analysis, as noted above. The NRM guidance note was developed with several audiences in mind. It is addressed primarily to social scientists within and outside the Bank who are expected to assist our clients—Bank task managers and project authorities in borrowing countries—in integrating social dimensions into the NRM sector. A second audience will be Bank task managers themselves, as well as other members of project teams, working in the NRM sector. The guidance note will also support country managers and sector managers in ensuring that their task teams consider social development dimensions adequately in the design and implementation of Bank-supported NRM operations. Finally, the note is expected to be of use to governments, civil society and other stakeholders in considering how best to integrate attention to social issues in their development efforts