66 results
Search Results
Now showing 1 - 10 of 66
Conference Paper The Convention on Biological Diversity: An Ambivalent Attempt to Reconcile Communal Rights and Private Property(2000) Boisvert, Valerie; Caron, Armelle"Biodiversity became a global issue in the mid 1980s, under the pressure of converging forces: the threatening increase in species extinction, the changes in the theory as well as in the practice of nature conservation, but also the expansion of genetic engineering and the intrusion of industrial interests into areas from which they had been hitherto excluded. These elements participated in the integration of utilitarian perceptions of nature, reduced to a set of resources thanks to new technologies that enabled its extensive economic exploitation. Therefore, the Convention on Biological Diversity, adopted in 1992, stressed the notion of sustainable use of biological resources as a means to finance conservation but also to foster development in the South and to benefit pharmaceutical and agricultural industries. The property rights on resources were presented as the cornerstones of biodiversity conservation. "Prior to the enforcement of the Convention, transnational corporations had free access to indigenous resources-- including knowledge--and after screening they could patent parts of these resources, depriving their former holders of their traditional use rights. The definition of rights to bring this despoilment to an end and turn it into bioprospecting, an activity allegedly profitable to all parties, was one of the main stakes of the Convention. It has resulted in a compromise between economic efficiency as portrayed by the theory of property rights, that is the promotion of privatisation through the development of intellectual property rights on biotechnology products, equity through the recognition of the rights of indigenous peoples and communities embodying traditional lifestyles and a political concession to developing countries in securing their sovereignty on their resources. "Our purpose lies in stressing the contradictions of such an attempt, aiming at reconciling communal and private rights, maintenance of traditions and incentives to innovate, cultural differences and the homogenising forces of globalisation into a market framework. "The model favoured by the Convention is the one propounded by the Coase theorem. Once the rights are established, direct negotiations should take place between the holders and the users of genetic resources to determine the terms of exchange. The possibility for communities or indigenous peoples to define de jure communal rights on their biological and intellectual resources is a delusive counterpart to the extension of intellectual property rights. As outlined in the Convention, these rights are mostly intended to favour the alienation of indigenous resources and knowledge, not to prevent it. The endeavour to build up commons out of cultural knowledge, that is often denied the status of resource by its very holders, is controversial. Moreover, technical obstacles, the imbalance of power and legal status make it difficult for local and indigenous communities to sign contracts on their own terms with transnational corporations. "Similarly, international competition for the supply of resources and world trade regulations do not leave the governments of developing countries much room for manoeuvre in the definition of laws of access to their biological heritage so that they cannot reckon on large benefits from bioprospecting. "On the plea of defending at the same time the varied interests of the parties, the Convention on biological diversity has resulted in favouring the status quo. Bioprospecting has acquired legitimacy though its benefits are dubious. The obvious bent for private property and market regulation in the negotiations concerning biodiversity stems from the theory of property rights; the legitimacy of such application is however questionable given the context."Conference Paper Negotiated Autonomy: Transforming Self-Governing Institutions for Local Common-Pool Resources in Two Tribal Villages in Taiwan(2000) Tang, Ching-Ping; Tang, Shui-Yan"The current literature on common-pool resources suggests that appropriators autonomy in determining access and harvesting rules is a pre-condition for successful local self-governance. Yet few studies have been done to examine how local communities that are faced with outside intrusion can regain such autonomy. This paper examines this issue by studying how two mountain tribal villages in Taiwan have attempted to rebuild their indigenous rules governing the use of their local stream fisheries. One village, Shan-Mei, has been more successful than another village, Li-Chia, in restoring its indigenous rules and fishery, because villagers in Shan-Mei were able to attain a negotiated autonomy by developing mutually beneficial relationships with external stakeholders."Conference Paper People, Place and Season: Reflections on Gwich'in Ordering of Access to Resources in an Arctic Landscape(2000) Johnson, Leslie Main; Andre, Daniel"It is a tenet of common property theory that local groups of people tend to evolve institutions to allocate common pool resources among community members in ways which are economically and ecologically sustainable. We are interested in the applicability of this type of analysis to subsistence systems of non-agricultural indigenous peoples. This paper is a preliminary examination of informal institutions of the Gwich'in of the Northwest Territories in Canada and how they contribute to ordering access to resources through the seasons by Gwich'in. This analysis is based on conversations by Johnson with Gwich'in and other people who have worked with Gwich'in people, and her fieldwork with Gwich'in from Fort McPherson and Tsiigehtchic in 1999 and 2000, and the insights and experiences of Andre regarding Gwich'in seasonal use of land and resources. This paper considers the resource use of the people of Fort McPherson and Tsiigehtchic. It does not deal with the mixed Gwich'in-Inuvialuit-non-Indigenous communities of Aklavik and Inuvik, which are historically more complex. We will consider three principal areas in this analysis: fishing, trapping, and caribou. "It must be emphasized that this discussion uses an analytic framework which differs in important ways from the usual perspective of Gwich'in people. The conceptualization of diverse elements of traditional subsistence as 'resources,' for example, and the discussion of these as things separate from a seasonal flow of life is not an indigenous perspective. Nonetheless, this approach can reveal aspects of Gwich'in life that allow us to compare aspects of the Gwich'in way of living on their land with that of other peoples in diverse areas of the world."Conference Paper Understanding Interdependencies: Stakeholder Identification and Negotiation as a Precondition to Collective Natural Resource Management(2000) Ravnborg, Helle Munk; Westermann, Olaf"The complex and subtle nature of the bio-physical interdependencies at play in determining many natural resource management problems are circumstances complicating improved natural resource management. What happens at one point in time or in one part of the landscape affects and is affected by what happens at other times or parts of the landscape. Some of these temporal and spatial interdependencies are immediately visible while others, such as the relationship between landscape diversity and structure, and the occurrence of specific crop pests and diseases (Altieri 1987; Barrett 1992), are more complex and subtle. "However, these are not the only factors at play. Particularly in hillside regions, agricultural landscapes are fragmented among numerous individual decisionmakers. Thus, even if recognising the biophysical interdependencies related to a specific natural resource management problem, effectively managing these requires the individual farmer to coordinate his or her resource management with that of neighbouring farmers. "This brings a second set of interdependencies into play, namely the social and economic interdependencies which exist between individual landscape users. Some farmers depend fully or in part on others for their livelihood, e.g. through their provision of employment as day labourers or of informal loans; farmers may belong to different ethnic or religious groups which may complicate communication and thus coordination between them; previous experiences of cooperation among farmers may have failed. These and other factors shape the individual farmers' willingness to engage in coordinated or collective natural resource management and thus the ability to manage the bio-physical interdependencies involved in many natural resource management problems. "This paper argues that recognising and understanding not only the interdependencies which exist between different parts and resources within the landscape but also between the individual resource managers is crucial to solving natural resource management problems which require coordinated or collective management. "Illustrated by field work based case studies carried out in Nicaragua and Colombia, the paper builds its findings on a stakeholder analysis methodology (Ravnborg et al. 1999), which through a process of continuous and iterative eliciting of individual farmers perceptions and interests with respect to their own resource management their constructions and contrasting of these with those of other farmers forms the basis for joint appreciation and analysis of the biophysical as well as social interdependencies involved in natural resource management. "In addition to the manual (Ravnborg et al. 1999), a teaching material has been developed on the basis of the stakeholder analysis methodology (Westermann et al. 1999) which has been used to teach the methodology in courses held for local development workers in Nicaragua, Honduras, the Dominican Republic and Colombia. "Underlying the methodology is the assumption that it is the individual farmers perception of a variety of factors such as bio-physical processes relating to natural resource management problems, security of land tenure, market developments, etc. which combined with his or her resource endowments and obligations make him or her act, that is pursue a specific resource management strategy. Thus, an important element in efforts to improve natural resource management is the eliciting, contrasting, enriching or deepening (by information from elsewhere, e.g. research) and negotiation of these individual understandings of natural resource management. "The paper consists of two parts. The first part presents the stakeholder analysis methodology and its theoretical basis, while the second part presents examples of its application and particularly how understandings of biophysical and social interdependencies emerged and were negotiated."Conference Paper Participatory Interventions in Farmer-Managed Irrigation Systems in Northern Thailand: Dynamism in Resource Mobilization(2000) Shivakoti, Ganesh P."Agriculture and water development in Thailand in general, and Northern Thailand in particular, has long historical perspectives as the country depends on agriculture for both subsistence and economic growth. Although the country is comprised of 25 large river basins, water shortage during dry season has often restricted farmers to intensifying and diversifying their farming system and assisting in the national economy by producing surplus grain for export. Water development for agriculture therefore becomes crucial in several regions of the country. "There were several small-scale irrigation systems operated and maintained by farmers some 700 years ago, particularly in Northern Thailand, through customary regulation as autonomous units. These systems were efficient and stable in regulating water for the wet season crop but insufficient for intensive dry season cultivation. In order to manipulate water resources to meet the great demand for rice export and to promote economic growth, the Canal Department was established in 1903, which was later named the Royal Irrigation Department (RID). In the early days, the primary objective of RID was to design large- and medium-scale irrigation systems to increase the productivity of rice mono crop in the central plain region. Given the situation of political and economic transformation, almost all the farmer-managed irrigation systems (FMIS) were technically improved and taken control by state governments in the northern region. As a result, the FMIS lost their autonomy and were forced toward greater dependence on the state mainly through technological intervention. Moreover, local communities also lost many traditional sources of revenue such as water tax and rice tax. The state intervention on water development gradually expanded throughout the region until 1946. "The post-1946 period saw significant changes in terms of new technology intervention in production system and water resource development. The farming systems were increasingly diversified and farmers started to grow non-rice crops such as maize, cassava, kenaf, and sugarcane which are, respectively, considered to be the periods of agricultural transformation. As the commercial crop production started, dispute on land issues increased considerably. The traditionally-formed committees were gradually broken down and had a significant impact on the rural development in general and water development in particular. No land entitlement documents were ever issued until the Land Act was officially proclaimed in 1954. Most of the farmers in northern part enjoyed only usufruct rights over land although they formulated their own principles of land inheritance. The property rights issue directly effected the efficiency of land use and consequently the total agricultural productivity of the region. "However, in recent years, the government has realized the importance of farmers' participation in water development activities and initiated several small-scale people-managed irrigation systems throughout the country. In order to retain farmers' ownership of the intact systems, the government adopted a participatory mode of intervention especially formulated to help FMIS of smaller area coverage. The government also specified a participatory management framework where the government and user farmers could undertake action in mutual understanding. "With these perspectives of irrigation management by farmers, the paper documents the history of water development and management with special reference to FMIS organization, rules, roles, and regulations of operation process. The paper then discusses the evolution of the public intervention process in FMIS and their implications on property rights issues and on consequent management conflicts arising thereof. With the change of government policy of promoting export during 1946-70 period, its impact on the mode of operation of FMIS in Northern Thailand has also been reviewed. Finally, the paper discusses recent participatory intervention processes in the changed economic context based on a case study of before-and-after intervention in FMIS and suggests policy implications of these process on the management of FMIS."Conference Paper Participatory Irrigation Management in Andhra Pradesh, India: Policy Implementation and Transformation in the Tungabhadra Right Bank Low Level Canal(2000) Mollinga, Peter P.; Doraiswamy, R.; Engbersen, Kim"This paper discusses the implementation of irrigation reform policy in the State of Andhra Pradesh, India. It reports on the impact of the introduction of participatory irrigation management (PIM) in two secondary canals (distributaries) in the Tungabhadra Right Bank Low Level Canal irrigation system. The findings are that the rural elite has captured most of the seats in the water users associations' managing committees, that committee membership is strongly linked to party politics, that a significant amount of physical rehabilitation works have been undertaken resulting in a technically improved canal system, that the reform has had no significant impact on water distribution so far and has not lead to increase in irrigated area (unlike in some other parts of the State), and that the relationship between Irrigation Department and water users is 'in flux' but is yet to qualitatively change. Despite this capturing of the policy by the rural elite, a framework has been created that in principle allows far- reaching reforms. However, special efforts are required to achieve the stated objectives of equitable and democratic irrigation management. It is unlikely that existing government agencies will be able to address these issues effectively."Conference Paper Political Economy of Tropical and Boreal Forests(2000) Contreras, Antonio P.; Pas-ong, Suparb; Lebel, Louis; King, Leslie; Mathieu, Paul"This paper outlines a framework and a set of research questions relating to the effects of institutions on human activities affecting boreal and tropical forests. The boreal forests of the Russian taiga, Fenno- Scandia, and the North American Subarctic and the tropical forests located around the equator in both the eastern and western hemispheres are among the planet's largest carbon sinks. The fate of these forests will constitute a major determinant of levels of greenhouse gases (GHGs) resident in the Earth's atmosphere during the 21st century. These forests, especially the tropical forests are also major repositories of biological diversity, a fact that makes it easy to understand why countries like Brazil and Indonesia rank among the top ten in all assessments of biodiversity. At the same time, rapid deforestation is a fact of life in the tropical forests. Pressures that could lead to deforestation in the Russian taiga are also mounting steadily. In institutional terms, what makes this topic particularly interesting is the opportunity it affords to study not only the performance of forest management regimes (e.g. the regime articulated in Indonesia's Basic Forest Act of 1967 and implementing regulations/decrees) as such, but also the interplay between regimes dealing specifically with forest management and broader political and economic institutions (e.g. Indonesia's changing political system, the international plywood market, the World Trade Organization) which operate as underlying causes of deforestation and aforestation. For this flagship activity, biogeophysical conditions in the boreal and tropical forests constitute the key dependent variables. The research puzzle, then, centers on an exploration of the role of interactions between specific forest management regimes and broader economic and political institutions as determinants of biogeophysical conditions prevailing in the forests."Conference Paper Forest Co-Management as if History Mattered: The Case of Western Himalayan Forests in India(2000) Chhatre, Ashwini"Kangra district in the western Himalayas has been witness to a succession of institutional arrangements between the people and the state for the management of forests in the last 150 years. This history has serious implications for the sustainability of the current efforts at creating village-level institutions for the co- management of forests. "In the mid-19th century, in exchange for proprietary rights over trees and timber, co-parcenary bodies of cultivators at the village level were formed and ceded the proprietary rights over the soil of the forests along with ownership of all non-timber forest products. Additionally, a one-fourth share in the proceeds from the sale of trees was also granted to this body, in order to secure its interest in timber conservancy. Over the next few decades, as the demand for timber and the need felt for securing control over timber yielding areas grew within the state, the co- parcenary bodies negotiated with the state and successfully extracted large concessions in exchange for ceding their proprietary rights over the soil. "Again, in the 1930s, responding to calls of impending doom due to forest degradation and erosion, the state negotiated with communities for enclosure of forest areas it was finding it impossible to manage. The resultant forest co-operative societies were given the full income from the forests, provided they managed the forests according to simple working plans prepared by forest officers and accepted the enclosure of forest lands. "Till date, in spite of offering varying degrees of incentives to local communities while at the same time trying to restrict local use, the forest department has failed to enforce its agenda of enclosure. The two cases discussed illustrate an ability of the communities to negotiate with the state, something which has been completely ignored, and sometimes negated, in the current efforts at co-management of forests. The cases also point to the futility of offering short term incentives and demonstrate the need to reconstitute the commons, with local institutions as equal partners."Conference Paper Common Property Institutions in the Alaskan Groundfish Fisheries(2000) Holland, Daniel; Ginter, Jay J. C."This paper describes the process by which the groundfish resources off Alaska are being transformed from essentially open access to more manageable common property resources. Selected common property institutions that were created or developed in these fisheries are described in terms of the problems they were designed to solve, their success or lack of success in doing so, and the factors that influenced both emergence and success of these institutions. The institutions discussed include the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, the Community Development Quota system, the Pollock Conservation Cooperative, and the cooperative bycatch control system known as Sea State used by the factory trawler fleets. Conclusions applicable to other fisheries and other common property resources are then drawn from the analysis of these common property institutions in the Alaskan groundfish fisheries."Conference Paper Watershed Management, Self Help Groups, and Inter-Institutional Linkages(2000) Sharma, Kailash C."Generally speaking, watershed management involves harnessing rainfall, improvement measures on barren hill slopes, privately owned lands, commonly owned lands and water recourses in rain fed areas with peoples participation. It begins with two most important resources i.e., water and land. Watershed Management has a strong technological component encompassing conservation of rain water as much as possible at the place where it falls and drainage of excess water safely to storage ponds; avoiding gully formation and putting checks at appropriate intervals to control soil erosion and to recharge ground water; and utilization of land according to its capability. "However, the medium of watershed management is people's participation. Without people's participation, the technological aspects have limited relevance. In the past, the technical details were emphasized and less attention was given to people's participation. "Collective management of resources is a prerequisite for successful watershed management and it requires strong village level institutions. In the absence of strong village level institutions, common resources are exploited. Therefore, institutions, be formal or informal in terms of organizational setup are needed for sustainable watershed management. "As the existing institutions are not performing as expected, the need for evolution of alternative institutions is strongly felt. The process of institution building is essential but is a time taking and difficult task. This is where the role of good non-government organisations (NGOs) becomes crucial for mobilising people for collective action. Initially, confidence and friendship are developed with the local people. Then, they are encouraged to participate in decision making regarding improvement in the watershed. Once a sort of trust is established a somewhat formal institution is built for collective action. "The Khulgad Micro Watershed case of Uttar Pradesh Hills presented in the paper shows that watershed management activities have made significant progress in reversing the land use trends in favour of agro forestry and social forestry in the study villages. It is optimistic to note that it is possible to reverse the land use dynamics in favour of environment if suitable interventions are implemented with peoples participation. An NGO of professionals, the Central Himalayan Environment Association (CHEA) played the role of organising people. The changes in land use have been possible with involvement of people's institutions at village level called Gram Sansdhan Prabandh Samitis (GSPSs) (Village Resource Management Committees) and Mahila Mangal Dals (MMDs) (Women Welfare Groups) in the villages. "The dependency syndrome in participatory mode of development is prevalent almost everywhere wherein people have become conditioned to expecting subsidised inputs from government sponsored programmes of watershed development or any other external agency. Therefore, watershed management activities are carried out as long as there is support from outside either directly or indirectly. Once support from outside is withdrawn, the watershed management activities also come to a halt. This is not sustainable watershed management. For watershed management to become sustainable, the people should own it and should be able to fund it on their own. This can be achieved through the institution of Self Help Groups (SHGs) and their linkage with formal financial institutions such as commercial banks, regional rural banks and cooperative banks. "Self Help Groups are informal groups that are formed around felt need and are used for collective action. In the context of making watershed management self-sustaining, these groups promote savings among members and use their pooled savings to meet their consumption, production and investment credit requirements. The group savings are supplemented by outside fund be in the form of bank loan or grant from NGOs who promote them. However, these groups continue on their own even after the withdrawal of the NGO, thus, providing sustainability to watershed management activities. The experiences of Mysore Rehabilitation and Development Agency (MYRADA) in Karnataka and Aga Khan Rural Support Programme, India (AKRSP (I) in Gujarat amply demonstrate the power of SHGs in this regard. "For watershed management activities to be carried out on a sustainable basis, it is important to consider the inter-institutional linkages amongst the institutions that need to interact frequently. Basically, two sets of institutions are involved internal and external. For the internal or village level institutions, it is important to form federations and have linkage with panchayats. For external institutions i.e., government departments, NGOs and donors, it is important to work together for synergy and to give top priority to capacity building and financial sustainability of village level institutions right from the beginning."