Natural Resource Management Institutions Research Articles

Belling the cat: Designing collective action institutions for natural resource management in the peri-urban interface

Peri-urban spaces are experiencing tremendous growth in the Global South, which in turn has fuelled a suite of environmental and natural resource management challenges, including inequitable access to and conflicts over natural resources, and the existence of institutional lacunae. Against this backdrop, we examine how scholars study collective action institutions around natural resource management in peri-urban spaces, with a regional focus on South Asia, and present its implications for institutional design and development in peri-urban contexts. In order to do so, we use ‘organic institutions’ and ‘pragmatic institutions’– a type of institutional classification grounded in the origin of institutions, as a conceptual entry point. We find that less is known about the role of organic institutions in enabling collective action around natural resource management in peri-urban spaces, even though their understanding is key for efforts at building effective pragmatic institutions. The paper concludes that practitioners working in peri-urban spaces should invest resources into understanding underlying social differences and developing strategies to mobilise social groups, by developing an understanding of organic institutions in peri-urban spaces.

Rebuilding rural community cooperative institutions and their role in herder adaptation to climate change

ABSTRACT Many studies have emphasized the importance of community-based natural resource management institutions in adapting to climate change and responding to the global shift towards individualized land tenure regimes. However, few have reported on the innovative institutions developed by some rural communities to rebuild community cooperation and rural adaptive capacity. This paper draws on four comparative cases from the Tibetan Plateau to assess how locally developed community cooperative institutions mediate herders’ access to markets and resources to foster adaptive capacity and adaptation in response to snow-related catastrophes. Results demonstrate that community cooperative institutions are more effective in improving adaptive capacity than the market-based adaptation strategies that are the predetermined outcome of individualized tenure regimes. When such cooperative institutions exist, community members are able to apply both household and community collective adaptation strategies, resulting in better livelihood outcomes. Community cooperative institutions effectively address individual needs and priorities by clarifying entitlements and market-based networks. They rebuild community collective action and cooperative business entities that improve herders’ ability to access resources and markets more equally by distributing benefits to all community members. This study concludes that following the establishment of individualized land tenure regimes, rebuilding community cooperation necessitates hybridization of property rights arrangements, reformed institutions, and social networks operating across levels of governance to facilitate interdependent interactions between collective and individual adaptation strategies. Such community cooperation offers new opportunities for improving adaptive capacity in pastoral regions and elsewhere.

Exploring the role of nested institutions in community-based tourism development: Two case studies from China’s Tibetan pastoral region

Community-based tourism is key to rural sustainable development. However, information remains inadequate on how natural resource management institutions restructure community social capital and property rights regimes while developing community cooperation and tourism participation within evolving rural socio-economic systems. This study investigates two rural villages, one under a household-based rangeland transfer system and the other under a community cooperative institution, to quantitatively assess how each mediates rights-based, structure-based, and network-based access mechanisms influencing community cooperation and tourism outcomes. The community cooperative institution facilitated higher rights-based and network-based access to tourism resources and markets for all community members, improving tourism participation and the equitable distribution of tourism benefits. This is because it uses hybrid and nested property rights provisions and social capital operating at different scales to protect individual rights and the balance of power. These practices restore social reciprocity, community redistribution, and market networks in building community cooperation, which better responds to the changing features of the rural socio-economic system. Therefore, social capital and property rights regimes are components of a nested community institution used to restructure social networks, rights, and entitlements. By these means, rural communities can devise different cooperative scales to govern their access to tourism resources and markets.

Student trainee and paid internship programs have positive results but do little to influence long-term employee diversity in the USDA forest service.

Women and Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) employees are underrepresented in science and natural resource management institutions. Student and recent graduate trainee and internship programs have been used to try to address this in United States federal agencies over the last few decades. Our study evaluates how effective such programs are at improving U.S. federal workforce diversity. We used a comprehensive employee dataset from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service-which has the largest natural resource management workforce in the country-to analyze the demographic characteristics and career paths of paid interns from 1996-2017. We found that a majority of employees who started as interns later converted to permanent employment with the USDA Forest Service. In addition, Black and Hispanic interns were, respectively, 5 and 3 times more likely than White interns to work for the agency in permanent positions after their internships. However, people who started as interns had significantly shorter USDA Forest Service careers than those who started in permanent positions. White women entering directly into permanent positions typically advanced to higher pay grades through promotion faster than White women who entered as interns. Finally, male BIPOC interns involuntarily separated (i.e., were fired) at significantly higher rates than all other employees. Our study suggests that while internship employment programs can be an effective tool for hiring a diverse workforce, they are not sufficient to close the overall workforce diversity gap. In addition, only a small percentage of new hires every year are interns. To achieve a level of representation that mirrors the civilian labor force, our study suggests that internship programs need to focus on long-term employee retention and be of significantly larger scale.

Strengthening Gender Responsiveness of the Green Climate Fund Ecosystem-Based Adaptation Programme in Namibia

Scholars of gender and climate change argue that gender-blind climate change actions could exacerbate existing inequalities and undermine sustained climate change adaptation actions. For this reason, since 2017, the Green Climate Fund placed gender among its key programming prerequisites, making it the first multilateral climate fund to do so worldwide. However, to date, no lessons to inform planned gender-responsive ecosystem-based interventions in Namibia have been drawn from community-based natural resource management. Thus, this paper aims to share key lessons regarding the way in which gender assessment is useful in enhancing equity in an ecosystem-based adaptation programme for the Green Climate Fund. To this end, we conducted in-depth interviews and group discussions in the 14 rural regions of Namibia with 151 participants from 107 community-based natural resource management organisations (73.5:26.5; male:female ratio). The results identified gender imbalances in leadership and decision-making due to intersecting historic inequalities, ethnicity and geography, as well as other socio-cultural factors in local community-based natural resource management institutions. We also identified income disparities and unequal opportunities to diversify livelihoods, gendered differentiated impacts of climate change and meaningful participation in public forums. Overall, the assessment indicates that considering gender analysis at the initiation of a community-based climate change adaptation project is crucial for achieving resilience to climate change, closing the gender gap, building capacity to increase equity and empowering women in resource-dependent environments in Namibia and Sub-Saharan Africa more broadly.

Role of Institutions in Natural Resource Management (NRM): The Nexus Between Natural Resources and Conflict

Role of Institutions in Natural Resource Management (NRM): The Nexus Between Natural Resources and Conflict

The Role Of Customary Institutions In Natural Resource Management In Kailolo, Haruku Island

This study examined the role of sasi institutions in Kailolo negeri with the aim of 1. They are knowing the form of sasi application 2. Assessing the role of sasi institutions in natural resource management in Kailolo Haruku Island Subdistrict, Central Maluku Regency. The method used in this research was qualitative, namely a survey. The study results show that sasi has legal value because it has norms and rules related to ways, habits, behaviour, and customs containing ethics and standards. The role of kewang institutions in Kailolo negeri is perfect because in managing sasi, the community and kewang are together in carrying out their respective functions and responsibilities. There are two sasi in the negeri of Kailolo, namely the Tanjung Moleo sasi and the Forest sasi, which are carried out using an auction system.

Informal institutions and grassland protection: Empirical evidence from pastoral regions in China

Grassland has experienced continuous degradation, resulting in serious ecosystem services loss and unsustainable grazing production. Previous studies have identified the impact of formal environmental institutions or policies on grassland protection. But, little evidence of the effectiveness of informal institutions has been found. Using village grassroots governance as a proxy for informal institutions, this study empirically identifies the effects of informal institutions on grassland quality improvement. Results show that the presence of informal governance leads to improvement in grassland quality. Moreover, these positive effects are found to be more significant when informal governance is in a written form and penalties occur as a consequence of violations. Further investigations reveal that the effectiveness of informal governance is mediated by village size, villager income, household-level compensation from government conservation programs, and grassland property right privatisation. The findings offer new insights into the positive role played by informal institutions in natural resource management and would assist existing policy instruments in grassland protection.

Design Principles of Common Property Institutions: The Case of Farmer Cooperatives in the Upper West Region of Ghana

Common property institutions in natural resource management are often analysed by means of Ostrom’s framework of design principles. Recently, the design principles have been generalised to study human groups in other collective action scenarios, including farm producers who collectively buy inputs or sell outputs. Several case studies have conceptualised farmer cooperatives as common property institutions to study how various collective action scenarios have been approached. We contribute to the scarce literature with a field study in the Upper West Region of Ghana, using Ostrom’s framework to compare the design principles of active and inactive farmer cooperatives. Using the mean group comparison method, we find numerous significant differences as active farmer cooperatives have clearer boundaries, require more capital investments, have more active board directors and managers, receive more governmental support, and have more locations. However, not all design principles are significantly different for active and inactive cooperatives (e.g. sanctions, legal rights). Considering our results, we perceive opportunities to formalise the conceptualisation of farmer cooperatives as common property institutions with both internal and external design principles. Our results also have policy implications in terms of top-down initiatives to spur collective action by Ghanaian farm producers.

Conservation and natural resource management: where are all the women?

AbstractThere is evidence from the development and humanitarian sectors that purposeful engagement of women can increase the impact of development. We conducted a literature review to examine whether this is also evident in conservation and natural resource management. The following themes emerged from our review: existing societal and cultural norms affect and generally limit how women can engage in conservation and natural resource management; women interact differently with the environment than men, so if they are excluded, their knowledge and perspectives on particular resources may not be considered in conservation actions; and there is often a lack of resources or dedicated effort by conservation or natural resource management programmes to understand and address the barriers that prevent women's engagement. Although there was evidence of a positive relationship between the engagement of women and environmental outcomes, some studies showed that positive conservation outcomes do not necessarily benefit women, and when women are not considered, conservation activities can perpetuate existing inequities. We conclude that although the importance of integrating gender into conservation is acknowledged in the literature, there is a need to examine how women can be meaningfully engaged in conservation. This must go beyond treating women as a homogenous group, to consider intersectionality including race, ethnicity, age, religion, poverty and disability. In addition, conservation and natural resource management institutions need to address the inclusion of women in their own staff and programmes.

Do country-owned adaptation interventions reflect local level priorities? Application of a framings approach

ABSTRACT It is claimed that country ownership enables equitable adaption by ensuring that adaptation interventions address priorities of local level vulnerable populations. This paper uses a framings approach to understand whether country owned interventions are aligned with local level adaptation needs. Three framing - the rights and responsibility, capabilities and recognition framings-are used to identify principles of justice reflected in adaptation interventions and compares them to those expressed by local level communities expected to benefit from these interventions. A case study of a Least Developed Countries Fund-funded and Global Environment Facility-administered coastal adaptation project in Tanzania is used. The analysis finds differences between framings by the project and local communities. The project portrays a rights and responsibilities framing with emphasis on government-led technocratic adaptation. Local level communities prioritize the capabilities framing, where local natural resource management institutions are considered necessary for mediating between resource access by resource-dependent households and resource conservation for coastal adaptation. The findings suggest that country ownership may not necessarily be equitable as local level adaptation priorities can fail to be reflected in country owned interventions.

Women and farmland preservation: The impact of women’s participation in farmland management governance in Japan

Women’s empowerment is considered vital for successful natural resource management. However, owing to the problem of reverse causality, previous empirical studies have uncovered little evidence that enhancing women’s presence in community institutions for natural resource management leads to resource preservation. This study explores the causal impact of women’s participation in farmland management governance in Japan on farmland preservation. In 2010, municipal agricultural committees managing farmland in Japan set the goal of having at least two women members in the executive committee (EC), the principal decision-making body. We use the timing of the election of EC members as an instrumental variable. Using panel data on agricultural committees from 2011 to 2015, the results show that agricultural committees with a high proportion of women members show significantly greater improvements in farmland preservation. This beneficial impact of women’s participation is likely attributable to not only the increased role of women in decision making, but also the increase in the meetings of EC members for in-house training.

Community Level Natural Resource Management Institutions Work in (Game) Theory as Well as in Practice: Lottery Allocation of Fishing Sites Implements Correlated Equilibrium

The Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) literature led by Elinor Ostrom concludes that Nash equilibrium predictions are empirically falsified in the social dilemmas found in community-level natural resource management problems. However, Nash equilibrium is not the only solution concept within noncooperative game theory. Here we demonstrate the power of Correlated Equilibrium (CE) to explain lotteries for the allocation of fishing sites as enduring community-level natural resource management institutions. Such CE-implementing lotteries are procedurally fair, equitable, and increase total expected fishery value. This modeling approach also reveals the nature of the interdependence between the size and spacing of fishing sites and the in-use characteristics of fishing gear on the one hand, and the degree of formalization of property rights and the structural features of the natural resource management institution on the other hand. When appropriately applied, noncooperative game theory offers a powerful explanatory complement to the IAD literature on community-level natural resource management.

Community-level natural resource management institutions: A noncooperative equilibrium example

The Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) literature finds that Nash equilibrium predictions are empirically falsified in the social dilemmas that arise in community-level natural resource management problems. However, Nash equilibrium is not the only solution concept within noncooperative game theory. Here we demonstrate the power of Correlated Equilibrium (CE) to explain lotteries for the allocation of fishing sites as enduring community-level natural resource management institutions. Such CE-implementing lotteries are procedurally fair, equitable, and increase total expected fishery value.This modeling approach clarifies two further sets of relationships. It reveals the nature of the interdependence between the size and spacing of fishing sites and (a) the in-use characteristics of fishing gear, as well as (b) the degree of formalization of property rights and the structural features of the natural resource-management institution. When appropriately applied, noncooperative game theory offers a powerful explanatory complement to the IAD literature on community-level natural resource management.

Addressing conflict through collective action in natural resource management

The food security crisis and international “land grabs” have drawn renewed attention to the role of natural resource competition in the livelihoods of the rural poor. While significant empirical research has focused on diagnosing the links between natural resource competition and (violent) conflict, much less has focused on the dynamics of whether and how resource competition can be transformed to strengthen social-ecological resilience and mitigate conflict. Focusing on this latter theme, this review synthesizes evidence from cases in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Building on an analytical framework designed to enable such comparative analysis, we present several propositions about the dynamics of conflict and collective action in natural resource management, and a series of recommendations for action. These propositions are: that collective action in natural resource management is influenced by the social-ecological and governance context, that natural resource management institutions affect the incentives for conflict or cooperation, and that the outcomes of these interactions influence future conflict risk, livelihoods, and resource sustainability. Action recommendations concern policies addressing resource tenure, conflict resolution mechanisms, and social inequalities, as well as strategies to strengthen collective action institutions in the natural resource sectors and to enable more equitable engagement by marginalized groups in dialogue and negotiation over resource access and use.

Repositioning Local Institutions in Natural Resource Management: Perspectives from Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract Empirical evidence confirms the role of local institutions in natural resource management in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). While their exact actions in this aspect is important, even more pertinent is the way these institutions can be rekindled in the midst of seemingly weak formal structures to support resource management processes. Using empirical case studies from 8 SSA countries, complemented by field-based experience on local institutional dynamics, we analyse local institutions with a view to reposition them in resource management. Our analysis suggests that in repositioning local institutions, attention should be given to local institutional capacity, regulatory frameworks, institutional performance and transplantation. JEL Codes: D02, Q20

Repositioning Local Institutions in Natural Resource Management: Perspectives from Sub-Saharan Africa

Empirical evidence confirms the role of local institutions in natural resource management in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). While their exact actions in this aspect is important, even more pertinent is the way these institutions can be rekindled in the midst of seemingly weak formal structures to support resource management processes. Using empirical case studies from 8 SSA countries, complemented by field-based experience on local institutional dynamics, we analyse local institutions with a view to reposition them in resource management. Our analysis suggests that in repositioning local institutions, attention should be given to local institutional capacity, regulatory frameworks, institutional performance and transplantation. JEL Codes: D02, Q20

Trust, Trustworthiness, and Motivation in the Natural Resource Management Context

ABSTRACTTrust is critical for natural resource management (NRM). In recognition of this, a noteworthy body of literature has investigated the construct but is, as yet, still developing. The current research proposes and tests an increasingly complete model that integrates the major advances in not only the NRM literature but in the social psychological literature addressing trust more generally as well. To that end, the current analyses were conducted with a large sample of Michigan hunters (n = 23,954). The results suggest that, as hypothesized, the theoretical model is a statistically defensible account of trust in this context and suggest that both trustworthiness and motivation have important roles to play in driving cooperation intention and behavior. Thus, the current work suggests that although it is important for NRM institutions to attend to their trustworthiness, they should not ignore the motivation that arises from benefits they provide.

On the influence of trust in predicting rural land owner cooperation with natural resource management institutions

Contemporary natural resource management (NRM) emphasises the role of the public in general and land owners in particular as voluntary participants in the process. Understanding the role of trust in voluntary cooperation is therefore critical, but the current state of the relevant literature is such that it fails to systematically address a few important issues. This inquiry sought to address these issues by presenting and testing a model of land owners’ trust in and cooperation with a NRM institution. The model hypothesises that the six major drivers of trust in this context (dispositional trust, care, competence, confidence, procedural fairness and salient values similarity) are distinct but correlated constructs that drive cooperation and whose effects are moderated by the sophistication (relevant knowledge and experience) of the trustor. The results provide complicated partial support for the hypotheses and suggest that (1) although the six constructs are separable, their effects on cooperation are not as distinct as expected; (2) the most important consideration for cooperation may, in fact, be a broader evaluation – potentially a willingness to be vulnerable to the target and (3) if sophistication is an important moderator of the effect of trust, it is likely to require only a low level of general sophistication about the target institution to encourage trustors to rely most strongly on their perceptions of the institution itself.

Moving towards Multilevel Governance of Wetland Resources: Local Water Organisations and Institutional Changes in France

The aim of this study is to achieve an understanding of the collective management of wetlands by landowner associations, in order to reflect on their role and position within the new wetland resource governance system, initiated by the recent institutional reform in France. Proposals from self-governance institutions for natural resource management and social capital studies inform the analytical framework. Two survey phases among the chairs and members of associations that currently manage the riparian marshes of the Gironde estuary are the basis for an empirical study. The results reveal that half of the landowners sampled will default. However, neighbourhood and community-based social capital as well as the close involvement of the chairs of the associations are the key elements of the collective management of water-level and wetland resources. We then argue that informal and flexible collaboration between small associations should be the governance mode for the collaborative management of wetlands.