Governing a complex socio-ecological system: the case of the ‘Golden Corridor Program’ in Taiwan

Abstract

This study proposes a framework of multilevel governing networks to analyse issues of multiple-use common-pool resource management in a complex socio-ecological system. By exploring the case study of the Golden Corridor Program in Yunlin, Taiwan, we found that self-governance at the community level is a partial way to govern multiple-use common-pool resources. Farmland here is facing the impact of land subsidence, and the high-speed rail construction has overweighted the surface. Although the Golden Corridor Program attempts to mitigate this effect of land subsidence on rail traffic safety through rewards for water-saving farming activities for farmers, the implementation lacks the intensive vertical integration and horizontal connections required to promote the collaborative platform among stakeholders. Local farmers still care about agricultural revenue. Thus, the loose self-governing capacity cannot generate institutional collective actions to improve the agri-environment here. The premature multilevel governing network has caused the governance failure to regulate this multiple-use common-pool resource.