Role and Use of Common Property Resources (CPRs) in Bhutan Himalayas: Between Tradition and Globalisation

Abstract

"The objective of this paper is to analyse the present role of common property resources (CPRs) in a resource rich, mountainous environment, and to identify factors that influence their use. This study was based on an analysis of historical trends and 14 CPR case studies all over the country.

"Bhutan is an exceptional case in South Asia. With its 72% forest cover, rich biodiversity and plentiful water resources, it can be considered as a resource rich environment. As Bhutan was quasi-isolated until the beginning of the 1960s, most land-users were highly dependent on the surrounding natural resources to meet their subsistence needs. This resulted into numerous CPRs all over the country. The most important common property resources in rural Bhutan are: forests, non-wood forest products (NWFP), pastures, water and agro-genetic resources. There were many indigenous agreed arrangements about the management and use of the CPRs, especially in areas where resources were more scarce and where some level of resource competition occurred.

"During the last decades, the role and efficiency of these local arrangements has declined, due to increased pressure on natural resources, commercialisation of the local subsistence economy, a strong conservation policy and government control over natural resources (by the nationalisation of all non-privately owned land in 1969). In areas where mainstream cash crops became popular, CPRs became less important due to the cash crop focus and substitution of some CPR products. However, in remote and economically less developed areas, CPRs became more important to sustain rural livelihoods due to commoditization of certain common property natural resources. In 2001, the status of the CPRs in Bhutan is mixed. Sustainable use or degradation of CPRs depend on a complex combination of factors. The most important factors are: presence (or absence) of locally agreed arrangements, legal status of the CPRs, method of commercialisation, and government regulation and facilitation."