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Working Paper Land Use and Landscape Dynamics in Northern Thailand: Assessing Change in Three Upland Watersheds Since 1954(1994) Fox, Jefferson; Krummel, John; Yarnasarn, Sanay; Ekasingh, Methi; Podger, Nancy"The forests of Southeast Asia contain biologically diverse communities of vegetation and wildlife. These lands also support millions of tribal people who produce food and fiber for local and regional consumption. Today, traditional uses of forestland are being transformed by national market forces and changing national policies of landownership and land use. While tropical forest loss is recognized as a regional and global problem, little is known about the link between resource use at the local level and its effects on forest fragmentation and loss at the landscape scale. This study analyzed human-induced loss and fragmentation of tropical forests in three upland watersheds in northern Thailand between 1954 and 1992. During this 38-year period, forest cover declined, agricultural cover increased, population and population density grew, and agriculture changed from subsistence to cash crops. These changes resulted in forest fragmentation and loss, with implications for biological and cultural diversity, sustainable resource use, and the economic conditions of the region. By linking the outcome of individual land use decisions and measures of landscape fragmentation and change, we illustrate the hierarchy of temporal and spatial events that, in summation, result in global biome changes."Conference Paper Bioeconomic Approach to Investment and Regulatory Policy Formulation for Cage Culture of Tilapia in Sampaloc Lake, Philippines(1993) Tan, Reynaldo L.; Higuchi, Teizo; Honma, Tetsushi"The main concern of this study is two-fold: to improve the efficiency and productivity of cage culture operation of Tilapia in Sampaloc Lake and to provide practical bases for reassessing the Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA) Fishery Zoning Plan. Primary data consisted of surveys of fishcage farmers operation in 1986 and 1990. Results of regression analysis showed that fish size at harvest, stocking density and feeding rate affect yield significantly. Moreover, due to the shift to more intensive feeding, the issue of overcrowding can be ignored and locational advantage plays a minor role. However, it was empirically confirmed that feeds were being applied in excess relative to the prevailing stocking density. At the prevailing technology, the optimal stocking density was found to be 19 times higher than the actual average of about 20 fingerlings/ sq. m. This optimum stocking density was compared to the stocking densities in other countries and it turned out to be relatively moderate. Technical investigation of the cage size-stocking density relationship showed that the carrying capacity of a cage varies primarily with its size. A stochastic frontier total cost function employing translog functional form was used in measuring the levels of inefficiency of the individual cage farmers and the average inefficiency level was found to be 14%. Cage size, stocking density and culture length tend to affect inefficiency the most and the prevailing average yield level, only about 15% of the existing average cage size is needed to produce it. Thus, the 15-ha fishcage belt limit being imposed by LLDA can be met without necessarily dislocating any of the fishcage farmers in the lake."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."Working Paper Water Markets in the Fordwah/Eastern Sadiqia Area: An Answer to Perceived Deficiencies in Canal Water Supplies?(1994) Strosser, Pierre; Kuper, Marcel"This paper presents the results of a study on water markets in the Fordwah/Eastern Sadiqia Area, Punjab, Pakistan. The study stresses and quantifies the importance of water markets in the area. A first attempt is made to evaluate the the impact of water markets on the quality of irrigation services."Conference Paper Impacts of Management Turnover in Two Irrigation Districts in Colombia(1996) Vermillion, Douglas L.; Garces-Restrepo, Carlos"This paper assesses the impacts of the transfer of management for two irrigation districts in Colombia from a government agency to farmer water users associations. Changes in governance and management roles, responsibility and rights are defined and related to incentives of the water users to achieve certain performance objectives. Since the transfer in 1976, the financial viability of the districts has improved primarily through increased water charges, sideline revenues and reductions in staff. Farmer-elected boards revised operational procedures and cropping patterns, which supported an enlargement of service area with the same water. A complete inventory of canals and structures documented that the schemes have been reasonably well maintained by the districts. Gross value of agricultural output has risen well ahead of inflation. The total cost of irrigation has declined relative to both cost of production and gross value of output. The paper also presents survey data on perspectives of farmers, irrigation staff and agency officials."Working Paper Use and Protection of Coastal Resources(1996) Sandberg, Audun"This paper examines the interrelationship between the. competing uses of coastal resources and the institutional frameworks that shape this governing of such resources. These Institutions often have the character of layers, where for instance the local perceptions are rooted in institutions that governed traditional use, the contemporary legal framework is rooted In economic activities of the modern, age, while the Institutional dynamics is caused fey emerging Integrative activities, often activities that challenges the previous distinction between use and protection. "The paper uses Northern Norway as an example and carries out an analysis of us and protection of North-Norwegian coastal resources �»s a dynamic blend of Non-EU institutional designs, local institutional structures and the institutional challenges from new activities like coastal recreational fishing, aqiiacititiir, conservation and habitat improvements sea ranching and sea cultivation. "In carrying out this analysis, the paper will link tills with other analysis in the EU Environment Programme and with lie ELOISE programmes on the Sand/ocean interface. The paper thus establishes grounds for comparing the institutional development in one part of Europe with the institutional development pertaining to coastal regions in other parts of Europe, e.g. the West Coast of Ireland."Working Paper The Governance and Management of Irrigation Systems: An Institutional Perspective(1993) Yan-Tang, Shui; Ostrom, Elinor"During the past three decades, massive resources have been invested by donor agencies and developing countries in technologically sophisticated, large-scale irrigation projects. Even though the planning processes for these projects rely on modern benefit-cost analysis, many projects that looked outstanding on paper have not fared well 'on the ground.' Costs have usually been higher than expected, and benefits have been lower. Cost recovery has often not proved feasible."Journal Article Challenges in Adaptive Management of Riparian and Coastal Ecosystems(1997) Walters, Carl J."Many case studies in adaptive-management planning for riparian ecosystems have failed to produce useful models for policy comparison or good experimental management plans for resolving key uncertainties. Modeling efforts have been plagued by difficulties in representation of cross-scale effects (from rapid hydrologic change to long-term ecological response), lack of data on key processes that are difficult to study, and confounding of factor effects in validation data. Experimental policies have been seen as too costly or risky, particularly in relation to monitoring costs and risk to sensitive species. Research and management stakeholders have shown deplorable self-interest, seeing adaptive-policy development as a threat to existing research programs and management regimes, rather than as an opportunity for improvement. Proposals for experimental management regimes have exposed and highlighted some really fundamental conflicts in ecological values, particularly in cases in which endangered species have prospered under historical management and would be threatened by ecosystem restoration efforts. There is much potential for adaptive management in the future, if we can find ways around these barriers."Working Paper Groundwater Development and Management in the Critical Areas of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu States of South India(1991) Rao, D.S.K."Liberal energisation of wells, subsidised power tariff for agriculture pumpsets and easy availability of institutional credit have contributed to a surge in groundwater development in Andra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu states of south India during the last three decades. The number of wells increased from 1,510,000 in the year 1960, to 2,860,000 in 1985 (Karnataka state registered a more impressive growth rate of 9.8% per annum). In the above period, the area irrigated by wells increased by more than two times."Working Paper Policies for Sustainable Development: The Roles of Watershed Management(1994) Brooks, Kenneth N.; Ffolliott, Peter F.; Gergersen, Hans M.; Easter, K. William"The basic points made in this policy brief are that: * Watershed management and upland conservation provide a means to achieve sustainable land and water resource management. * Poor management of natural resources on watersheds is a major cause of land and water degradation and rural poverty in the world today. * The main cause of such mismanagement is lack of appropriate policies that encourage application of known watershed management principles and practices, including both structural and vegetation management options. * Because watershed boundaries seldom coincide with political boundaries, the environmental point of view that favors watershed boundaries often conflicts with the political point of view that logically favors political boundaries. * The main policy challenge is to move toward greater integration of the two points of view. * This involves establishing and implementing policies so that people become responsible for the impacts of their actions on others outside their normal decision-making context (internalize the externalities, as economists say). * We show several ways to internalize the externalities."