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Conference Paper Coastal Resource Management: Institutions and Conflict Avoidance(1995) Fingleton, Paul; MacCann, Sarah; Whelan, Brendan"This study is investigating the potential for sustainable development of the coastal zone through sectoral integration. A fundamental part of this investigation involves the examination of policies and attitudes which govern the exploitation of the resource, from local to international levels. One case study examines these factors as they relate to one specific coastal area. The second looks at one specific species of fish, the Atlantic Salmon. "This fish has previously been exploited at every opportunity from its feeding grounds to the spawning rivers. Mounting pressures have in recent years caused many fisheries to cease to intercept these migratory fish. In Ireland the practice continues and it is now the Irish home drift net fishery which presents the biggest obstacle to returning fish. This fishery receives significant indirect funding from sources including the EC. Other less obvious factors which adversely affect the species such as water pollution and sedimentation arise as a result of land based developments in industry, agriculture and urban development -- often financially assisted by the EU. It is this kind of conflict which this study is identifying with the aim of finding means by which they may be resolved."Conference Paper Institutional Innovation in Underground Water Management in Saurashtra Region of Western India(1995) Patel, Haribhai"In this paper, therefore, at attempt is made to analyse in details, the recent institutional innovations being experimented in underground water management of Saurashtra region of Gujarat State in Western India. The case of Saurashtra is prominently distinct in the sense that it has emerged, over a period of time, as one of the most water scarce regions of India."Conference Paper Community-based Watershed Planning and Management on the Island of Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia(1995) Dahl, Christopher"Pohnpei is a volcanic island located in the Western tropical Pacific (land area 129 sq. mi.). The island is surrounded by an extensive barrier reef and coastal areas are bordered by mangrove forest. The mountainous interior is heavily forested with the main overstorey trees being Campnosperma brevipetiolata and Eleocarpus carolinensis. Large almost pure stands of the endemic palm Clinostigma ponapensis are also found at higher elevations. In 1987 the Pohnpei state government designated a watershed reserve covering 5,100 ha. of upland forest and 5,525 ha. of mangrove. Early on there was considerable resistance by communities and resources users to state 'enclosure' of upland areas as reserve where access and use of resources would be regulated. This led to the formation in 1990 of an inter-agency Watershed Steering Committee which began developing a community based approach. With some external assistance the Committee initiated a community based education program that visited all villages on the island and worked with traditional leaders to develop consensus for the need for forest resource conservation. Some community based organizations, watershed area management committees, were formed during this process and the formation of additional organizations to cover all communities on the island is being encouraged. Clearing of forest to plant kava (Piper methysticum), a traditionally important and increasingly commercial crop, emerged as a major issue in terms of forest loss. As of 1994, with substantial assistance from the Asian Development Bank and the U.S. based private non-profit organization The Nature Conservancy, a program of community-based watershed management planning is being initiated. A team from the State Division of Forestry will work with Watershed Area Management Committees to develop management plans for local watersheds using a participatory planning approach. It is expected that local Committees will also be substantially involved in management and enforcement once the planning phase is complete. This paper reports on the progress and results of this process to date."Conference Paper Current Forest and Water Policies in India: Some Facts and Appraisal(1995) Sengupta, Nirmal"By now common property relations are considered not only viable, but also a desirable form of property for natural resource management. This has led to many development efforts. The emerging common property institutions are far different from the traditional local formations and have wider economic}, even global relevance's. Newer issues have come up, in the area of control and ownership, in mode of participation, in fairness criteria in distribution etc. On the one hand there is the question of perpetuating the traditional rights. On the other, there is the possibility of more widespread distribution of the benefits of common property resources and of improving the quality of rural life over a wider area. The choice is not merely ethical but also of management ; the suitable alternative forms must be viable and sustainable, probably also productively efficient."Conference Paper Managing Common Groundwater Resources: The Case of the Netherlands(1995) Glasbergen, Pieter; Verbeeten, Tanja"This article explores the loss of biodiversity in terms of human interventions. We highlight how this process is related to human activities that affect the water table. At the same tune, we suggest ways to approach this problem and perhaps to solve it. "We perceive the problem as one of 'common pool resources' (CPR). This perspective seems appropriate, since groundwater can be classified as a renewable common natural resource. In view of its limited capacity for regeneration, groundwater is a natural resource for which the exploitation should be regulated. "The capacity for regeneration of this resource has been stretched to its limits for decades. The natural recharge of groundwater in the Netherlands is smaller than the amount used. This does not pose an immediate problem to the active interests such as the water supply companies, industry, and agriculture. For these users, the shortage is not acute. "We are dealing with a special CPR problem. It is special hi the sense that exploitation of this resource is considered detrimental to the passive interests. In other words, the problem lies in the negative impact on nature. "In order to preserve and restore biodiversity, a policy has been formulated with reference to the CPR groundwater. Groundwater is considered to be a scarce commodity because of its critical role in conservation. Recognition of this passive, immaterial interest prompts the active interests to adapt their behavior."Conference Paper Management of Drinking Water in Arid Region: Community Action in Rural Rajasthan(1995) Menaria, Rajendra"Community management of natural resources has been an essential part of life pattern in arid region of Rajasthan. Scattered population in small hamlets, dhanles and majras renders it difficult for the Government to provide drinking water in every locality. The village community has successfully managed to survive and cope with scanty, erratic rainfall and low ground water table. However, the recent trend of increasing population pressure and depleting common property resources necessitates active involvement and cooperation between local community and the Government. In isolation it will not be able to survive because of population pressure and resource depletion. In the desert region, drinking of water is available through rainfall (average annual rainfall being as low as 5 mm) or through ground water resources. The rain water is stored and conserved in common ponds and reservoirs. These are maintained by the villagers, each family contributes in pre-monsoon cleaning and repairing tasks of water channels, ponds and reservoirs. This water is sufficient for two, three months in post-monsoon season. For the remaining months, villagers depend on village wells for drinking water. Such wells are very few and far between. In recent years, management of water from such sources has been done by the village community. Water supply schemes have not been launched in such remote villages. The village community renovate, repair and maintain such wells by group participation. As water table has gone deeper, water cannot be manually drawn. Thus, the village elders have given a contract to Diesel Pump owner, who operates the pump daily for specified hours. Families take water from the pump side tank. Animals also drink from a separate point. Each family contributes water charges proportionally to pay the contractor. The initiative to manage own water supply by villagers and readiness to share the cost must be extended to Government operated water supply schemes so as to make the same viable and sustainable."Conference Paper Problems of Creation of Common Property Resources in Semi-Arid and Saline Areas; A Case Study of Kachchh District in India(1995) Mehta, Madhusudan B."Saline and arid lands are considered to be unproductive or low productive area and coupled with inhospitable climate, the common property resources of land, water and wind are threatened for neglect by the human society. The development of such area is a necessity, particularly in developing countries, which also have the problems of excess population. Utilizing these resources for creating utilizable common property resources is a need which cannot be overlooked. "A case study of Kachchh district in the western part of India is presented with a view to show that efforts are done in this direction of land utilization, and utilization of ground-water, wind energy, etc. The efforts are only a beginning and much remains to be done. The paper in short, focuses on the problems of creation of resources for such a society."Conference Paper Local Institutions in Common Property Resources: A Study of Community-based Watershed Management in Northern Thailand(1995) Wittayapak, Chusak"The watersheds in Thailand are dejtire governed by the state-property regime. Watershed management has been left entirely to government administration, mainly through the Royal Forestry Department (RED). This is because until recently these areas were extensively forested. However, under this governance the forest area has declined dramatically, from 53 percent of the country area in 1961, to 29 percent in 1986. Forests and watershed resources have de facto become an open-access resource which are susceptible to unlimited exploitation. "Initiatives to privatize forest resources have so far failed to stop deforestation. Moreover, in many cases they may even have accelerated forest depletion. Furthermore, privatization often tends to concentrate wealth in the hands of the few, at the expense of equity. In fact, private reforestation by means of a large-scale commercial forestry does not alleviate poverty since it fails to distribute benefits to the local people. Nor does it recognize traditional rights or any interest or capability in local communities to manage the forest resource around them."Conference Paper Transformation of the Coastal Commons Through Cooperative Fishing Arrangements(1995) Queirolo, Lewis E.; Johnston, Richard S.; Zhang, Zhengkun"For centuries the world's oceans have been regarded as the common heritage of all mankind, held in trust for the collective good. When demands upon the oceans were relatively few, such a perspective was probably not unreasonable. But the burgeoning of human populations and the accelerated growth of technology have conspired, in the latter decades of the twentieth century, to make the concept of a 'common property interest in the oceans' functionally obsolete. "In response, many coastal nations have unilaterally extended economic jurisdiction over adjacent waters, traditionally regarded as 'open ocean.' Although petroleum exploration, minerals mining, etc., have been a consideration in extended jurisdiction, living marine resources, and particularly fisheries, have been the principal focus. "While extended jurisdiction has characterised most of the world's marine fisheries for the past 15 years, nations continue to look for their comparative advantage positions in that sector. In so doing, they sample from a variety of production and trade arrangements. "In studying the resulting resource allocation, analysts should distinguish between the terms of agreements between partners operating in isolation and those that result when there are many potential partners. Competitive conditions on both sides of the market for access to resources may reduce the magnitude of potential asymmetric information problems. Indeed, as the number of potential partners rises, instability and conflict within co-operative fishing arrangements may decline, smoothing the transition of the commons to a regulated resource management state."