Common Property: What Is It, What Is It Good For, and What Makes It Work?

Abstract

"This paper is one of a series of analyses that represent the first wave of work being performed by IFRI's collaborators. Each author draws upon the training and instrument of the IFRI program to address their particular research questions. Given the early stage of IFRI's implementation, the number of cases upon which the authors draw is necessarily limited. Yet each is able to engage important practical and theoretical questions regarding local forest management. As more cases are added to the IFRI database, collaborators will be able to approach a even greater number of those issues important to policy makers and practitioners. And when researchers are able to revisit a significant number of sites to measure their changes, one of the central goals of the IFRI Research Program will be realized: a network of collaborators using reliable, local-level data to examine the complex and dynamic linkages between local communities and their forests."