Community-Initiated and State-Determined Strategies to Common Resources Management: A Comparative Analysis
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Date
2004
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Abstract
"It has been observed that wherever there is large concentration of forest, there is also high concentration of local and indigenous population. These forest resources are being locally owned, or enjoyed some form of open access regime with no clear form of ownership or management. These local populations are not only economically but socially and culturally dependent on these natural resources. In the Philippines, the social reform agenda supports people empowerment and the full meaning and indispensable participation of local communities as immediate stakeholder of the forest resources. The Community-Based Resource Management (CBRM) has been considered as a strategy for sustainable development that essentially entails people empowerment, capacity and skills building so that they will become managers of their own resources by giving them the opportunity to define their needs and goals and make their own decisions. It is believed that local capacity building is anchored on the premise that effective common resource management is directly related to the proximity of its locus of decision-making. In the above context, this paper was conceptualized to: understand how co-management approach has improved or weakened the capacity of communities to decide as to how common resources are to be developed, protected and used; and identify and assess the effectiveness of methods and strategies by which local communities respond to co-management approach in terms of a expanding its benefits to their ability to control resources, and b) mitigating its constraining effects on them. Moreover, this paper provides a comparative discussion on how the community or self-initiated and state-determined strategy has strengthened or weakened the common resources in the context of resource quality, livelihood and well-being, and capacity and influence of the local community. An indigenous practice that reinforces the conservation and protection of common resources was also documented along with the community- initiated strategy."
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Keywords
IASC, common pool resources, community participation, forest management, indigenous institutions, sustainability, decision making, co-management