The Emergence of Collective Forest Management Regimes: When do Open-access Resources Become Managed Commons?

Abstract

"In this study cross-national panel data, gathered at the community level in 13 different countries, was used to analyze change in forest conditions. The first question this paper seeks to answer refers to the relation between intensification of forest use and forest degradation. The main findings relate to the apparent ability of forest users to prevent their resource from degrading in spite of an increase in combined harvesting due to population pressure and market integration. Once established that intensified forest use does not necessarily lead to over-exploitation, the second question this paper addresses refers to what it is that forest communities do to successfully keep (or get) their resource in good shape. The findings confirm that institutions for collective action make a significant difference. Improving forests are characterized by forest users who have significantly more de facto harvesting rules in place. Furthermore, forest users in forests that are 'getting better' engage significantly more often in monitoring, maintenance and improvement activities. These findings invite to a third question: When are communities more likely to indeed craft the institutions of collective action that will either keep or get them away from the tragedy of the commons? The results point towards the importance of allowing forest communities to make their own rules."