Decentralized Natural Resource Management: A Review of Devolution of Property Rights and People’s Participation
Author : Pratyusna PatnaikVolume 8 No.1 January-March 2019 pp 92-96
Abstract
Recent decades have witnessed an increased attention towards emergence of decentralized strategies in natural resource management, as a solution to problems of over exploitation and degradation of natural resources. However, it is important to note that central to the processes of decentralisation in natural resource management is that of the concept of property rights. Successful decentralisation in natural resource management requires effective institutions be in place at local level with clearly defined property rights. In this context, the present paper analyses the process of changing property rights in decentralized natural resources management. It explores different forms of property rights and answers the question as to which type of property rights must be devolved to the user groups, if decentralized natural resource management is to be effective and sustainable.
Keywords
Natural Resource Management, Devolution, Property Rights, Participation
Full Text:
References
[1] Agrawal, A. & E. Ostrom (2001). Collective Action, Property Rights, and Decentralization in Resource Use in India and Nepal, Politics and Society, 29(4), 485 – 514.
[2] Baland, J. M. and J. P. Platteau (1996). Halting Degradation of Natural Resources: Is There a Role for Rural Communities? Oxford: Oxford University Press.
[3] Gibbs, C. J. N. & Daniel W. Bromley. (1991). ‘Institutional Arrangements for Management of Rural Resources: Common Property Regimes’. In FikretBerkes (Ed.) Common Property Resources: Ecology and Community-based Sustainable Development. Dehra Dun: International Books Distributors.
[4] Knox, A. & R. Meinzen-Dick. (2001). Collective Action, Property Rights, and Devolution of Natural Resource Management: Exchange of Knowledge and Implications for Policy, Capri Working Paper, 11.
Washington, D.C: International Food Processing Research Institute (IFPRI).
[5] Ostrom, E. (1990).Governing the Commons: Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action. New York: Cambridge University Press.
[6] Rondinelli, D. A., J. R. Nellis & G. S. Cheema. (1984). ‘Decentralisation in Developing Countries: A Review of Recent Experiences’, World Bank Staff Working Papers No. 581. Washington, D. C: The World Bank.
[7] Schlager, E. & E. Ostrom (1992). Property-rights Regimes and Natural Resources: A Conceptual Analysis. Land Economics, 68(3), 249-62.
[8] Sivaramakrishnan, K. & A. Agrawal. (1998). ‘Regional Modernities in Stories and Practices of Development’. YCIAS Working Paper 1. New Heaven: Yale University.
[9] Tang, S. Y. (1992). Institutions and Collective Action: The Case of Irrigation Systems. San Francisco: ICS Press.