Managing Environmental Policies: Lessons From Traditional Communities

Abstract

Natural resource conservation concerns have been prevalent around the world, and a range of solutions has been implemented to prevent their depletion. This paper brings together the literature on the commons and on behavioral principles to understand how traditional communities’ management of common pool resources can contribute to this discussion. More specifically, it highlights how these communities can offer lessons to governments on how to develop and manage environmental policies to ensure sustainable development. Whereas Ostrom’s work focuses on investigating how local communities succeed at managing common pool resources without external interference, behavior analysis can explain how cultural practices are selected. Through this combined framework, we investigate the practices of an extractive reserve (RESEX) in Brazil. A RESEX is an area of land, generally state owned, where access and use rights, including natural resource extraction, are allocated to local groups. The RESEX Mae Grande de Curuca is an example of common pool resource management that uses governmental tools to benefit the community. Fisherfolks are able to successfully conserve one of their main sources of livelihood: the fiddler crab. Finally, this paper describes and behavioral interactions regarding the conservation of resources that governments may want to consider.