Search Results

Now showing 1 - 10 of 21
  • Conference Paper
    Decision-making Processes in the Management of Coastal Commons: Case Studies from the Caribbean
    (1995) Thebaud, Olivier; Renard, Yves
    "The paper focuses on Coastal Zone Management issues in the small Caribbean islands of Martinique and Saint-Lucia, and underlines the importance of understanding decision-making processes in the implementation of collective measures to regulate the access to and use of coastal resources. The two islands appear to face similar problems linked to the increase and diversification of the demand for these resources. Multiple activities, particularly tourism and leisure activities, have developed in recent years, both on land and at sea, together with growing urbanization and the concentration of communication infrastructures in the sea shore. Despite new and strengthened public regulations, there appears to be an increase in the number of conflictual situations, and a growing need for more efficient collective management of the coastal areas. "Reference is made to a study led in Martinique in 1993 under an IFREMER (Institut Francais de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer) research programme concerning coastal conflicts analysis, and to the work done by CANARI (Caribbean Natural Resources Institute) in both the analysis of conflicts and the provision of assistance in the definition of a regional management program for the district of Soufriere in Saint-Lucia. In the case of Martinique, the study showed that effective management of coastal areas as public property on the island did not result of integrated decision making, more or less efficiently implemented through a single decision-maker's actions, but rather of simultaneous interactions between different actors involved in coastal use. This has led to situations of free access and conflicts, which are managed through locally devised, collective regulation systems, following general public land management principles. The case of Soufriere, where a specific institutions integrating local activities into a collective regulation system was created, gives an illustration of the negotiation process and problems encountered in the tackling the establishment of practical rules of access to and use of coastal resources."
  • Conference Paper
    State-centered Management and Local Level Revolt: The Case of Arizona Groundwater Management
    (1995) Schlager, Edella
    "This paper provides a political analysis of the AGWMA. The political analysis is organized around two puzzles or problems, posited and popularized by Ostrom (1990:42). They are: (1) the problem of supplying a new set of institutions; and (2) the problem of making credible commitments."
  • Conference Paper
    The Long-Term Power of Common Property Resources; Local management of the International Demand for Shellfish in Chile
    (1995) Payne, Holly E. X.
    "Of the shellfish products exported by Chile, the indigenous 'abalone' (Concholepas concholepas) claims the highest local and international price. Uncontrolled harvesting of the formerly abundant resource resulted in its dramatic decline. Since 1989, the Chilean government has banned abalone extraction to enable the resource to recuperate. In addition, common property favoring sustainable extraction by small-scale fishers is now legally recognized. Shellfish 'Management Areas' in the form of marine concessions may be obtained from the government by small-scale fishing unions. The organizational structures of four such unions, with and without Management Areas, were observed with respect to their abilities to control international demand favoring 'abalone' extraction. Under heightened political pressure, when the harvest ban was lifted and prices were more favorable, well-organized unions with Management Areas chose not to extract 'abalone'. Instead they voted to leave their resource inside of their legally recognized common property areas to accumulate value for sustained use in the future."
  • 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
    History of the Irrigation, the Constitution of Water Rights and the Role of the State and Peasants' Communities in Ecuadorean Andes
    (1995) Ruf, Thierry; Gilot, Luc
    "The subject of the paper is the constitution of water rights in the Ecuadorian Andes mountains, looking at all the history of water conflicts from colonial times to now, when the state begin to privatize the old systems of irrigation."
  • Conference Paper
    Wetlands and Biodiversity: A Case Study of Common Property Resources in Bangladesh
    (1995) Rahman, Mukhleshur
    "Bangladesh, a deltaic flood plain formed by the three major rivers of the world is endowed with vast wetland resources which include 1.03 million hectares of rivers, canals and estuaries, 114,161 hectares of reservoirs, 2.8 million hectares of seasonal floodlands and 87,300 hectares of brackish water aquafirms. These wetlands support biological diversity of flora and fauna. Wetlands and their biodiversity have been contributing substantially to the socio-economic life of the millions of people of rural Bangladesh by providing opportunities of employment, food and nutrition, fuel, fodder, transportation, irrigation, etc. Men, women and children are engaged in harvesting diverse resources of wetlands. The paper highlights different management patterns of wetlands. It also covers the use and access rights in harvesting wetland-based natural resources and relates these to social stratification and wetland types (including location and seasonality). The paper discusses issues related to conversion of wetlands to croplands and depletion of wetland-based biodiversity. It cites some instances of gradual transformation of common property rights regimes on wetland resources into private property rights. One of the aims of this paper has been to focus on the importance of conducting detailed studies on the existing status of wetland-based common property resources and rights in Bangladesh and to come up with specific recommendations toward building institutions in the country for conserving and protecting biological and cultural diversity of wetlands on a sustainable basis so that the common people are benefitted."
  • Conference Paper
    Adaptive Management of Marine Mammals: Accentuating the Positive
    (1995) Freeman, Milton M. R.
    From introduction: "The recent history of marine mammal management includes examples where conflict rather than cooperation characterizes the discourse. One cause of the conflict appears to be the tendency toward globalizing (or progressively de-localizing) the management regimes, with a result that many actors peripheral to resource users' concerns come to play a role in management decision-making. This has the result of greatly increasing the politicization of the management process without increasing the sustainability of the resource user - resource stock interdependency that has come to be seen as an important conservation principle. "Today it is increasingly recognized that community-based fishery and wildlife users in many areas of the world have developed systems of using these local resources on a sustainable basis (e.g. NRC 1986; Berkes et al. 1989; Ostrom 1990; Ruddle and Johannes 1990). In many cases this sustainable use takes place despite the introduction of, e.g., modern technology and the community's commercial integration with the world economy (e.g. Dyer and McGoodwin 1994). "This paper will examine the management and use of certain marine mammals in the coastal zone or near shore areas in the northern regions, where for many years the traditional use and commercial trade of marine mammals has sustained the health and vitality of both aboriginal and non-aboriginal communities and their distinctive cultures. In these regions there exist successful management and conservation programs operating with and without government (or other outside) involvement. "In the discussion that follows, two intergovernmental marine mammal management regimes will be briefly described and their performance analyzed. These two management bodies are the International Whaling Commission (IWC) and the International Agreement on the Conservation of Polar Bears (abbreviated to the Polar Bear Agreement, or PBA). "In marked contrast to the highly polarized and conflict generating nature of debates that characterizes the IWC management style, the PBA operates with a high degree of consensus and an almost total absence of conflict between governments and user groups. One very important difference between these two management regimes is the different understanding of the role of people in wildlife and fisheries management, in which the reactionary position exemplifying the whaling regime is strongly contrasted with the progressive view represented in the polar bear regime."
  • 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
    Indigenous Knowledge and Sustainable Commons: The Case of an Indonesian Subak
    (1995) Arifin, Bustanul
    "This paper analyzes how an indigenous Balinese water-user organization (Whisnu Kerta subak) deals with religious and democratic principles of water management. Particularly, the paper examines how these principles are translated into an interdependence perspective that would result in fair rights and duties of the organization members, a key element to achieve sustainable commons. The paper also explains why outsider intervention may have threatened the sustainability of the whole water management system and the natural environment in general. The heart of this water management system is a strong belief in the Hindu religious doctrine that water was not only common property resources but a God-owned property, a part of nature which human beings are encouraged to utilize properly. Empirical evidence shows that key elements of the success story of Whisnu Kerta subak include fair and clearly-stated rules and agreements, equitable rights and duties among organization members, strong enforcement of any violations and ethical, social and religious responsibilities attached to the feeling of interdependence among members. This subak has been able to overcome defiance by government officials and the vested interests of local and regional elites mostly due to the homogeneity in ethnic and social status of its group members."
  • Conference Paper
    Chaos on the Commons: Considering the Implications of Nonequilibrium Theory for Common Property Research
    (1995) Morgan, Betty
    "The rapidly emerging 'new science' of nonequilibrium systems theory may offer common property researchers and scholars an exciting alternative ontology from which to consider the development, behavior and efficacy of common property systems. Deriving from the dynamical holism of quantum physics, nonequilibrium theory engages the spontaneity, chaos, interrelatedness and interconnectedness of complex natural systems, such as common property regimes, and considers these system behaviors temporally. Viewing system evolution, or iteration, in this way permits researchers to assess the entire range of system behavior from episodes of equilibrium to episodes of chaotic or unpredictable behavior which suggest that the system is self-organizing and adapting to environmental stimuli. This study explores the connections between common property scholarship and the recent theoretical developments in nonequilibrium analysis. Using the Navaho Indian Irrigation Project as a case study, this paper explores the aspects of nonequilibrium theory which may be instructive in an expanded vision of common property research. Nonequilibrium theory holds that the behavior of all natural systems, of which human systems such as common property regimes are clearly a part, can be understood differently, and more completely when the tools and concepts of nonequilibrium theory are employed. After presenting the theoretical elements of nonequilibrium theory, the paper turns to an examination of the developmental history of the Navajo Indian Irrigation Project from a nonequilibrium perspective. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of nonequilibrium theory for common property research scholarship."