Integrated Natural Resource Management: A Question of Property Institutions?

Abstract

"An approach favored by academics and managers alike is that of integrated management. As a process which extends across resource disciplines and sects, within and between government and private organizations, and with aims set for social and economic change, integrated natural resource management has been difficult to achieve. Several reasons are possible; however, property institutions appear to be of foremost influence. Drawing upon a field study during which the Inuvialuit (a Canadian Inuit society) common property system, the Canadian government's state property regime, and the private property of citizens were evaluated, a conclusion is reached: prevailing property systems greatly influence the achievement of integrated natural resource management. The common property system of the Inuvialuit fosters an integrated approach, one which is less likely to emerge under state or private property regimes. Environmental conservation is popularly considered the outcome of natural resource management; however, the paper proposes that such management strives neither for conservation nor preservation, but rather for environmental rehabilitation: redirecting, mediating, and repairing the human uses amd impacts within the natural environment. Whether integrated natural resource management leads to better environmental rehabilitation outcomes is beyond the scope of htis paper. However, it does appear that societal values are closely linked to achieving rehabilitation and that the aims of environmental rehabilitation can likely be achieved under any one of the three property institutions: common, private, or state."