common pastures in southern transylvania economic, social ......fundatia adept transilvania, romania...
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Common Pastures in Southern Transylvania –economic, social and environmental values
Laura SutcliffeFundatia ADEPT Transilvania, Romania & University of Göttingen, Germany
“Mountain hay meadows – economic, social and environmental value” 23‐24 May 2013
Common PasturesCommon Pastures in Southern Transylvania – economic, social and environmental values
© Gwyn Jones 2010
Between 80‐200,000 ha ??
554,000 haof which 88% are important nature
areas
2 million ha= around 60% of all permanent pasture
Relative area of common grazing land 2010
= calculated= estimated
• The proportion and type (izlaz, composesorate or obşte) of common pasture differs in the different regions.
• Târnava Mare SCI: Owned by the state, administered by the local authorities. Almost all pasture here is communal (= 20‐30% of the area)
Common Pastures in Southern Transylvania Southern Transylvania – economic, social and environmental values
• Large resource, but total productivity is low
• When 90 % of holdings are <5 ha…it is the only access to pasture for many farmers
• But this user type is declining
Common Pastures in Southern Transylvania – economiceconomic, social and environmental values
30% decline
Economics of commons: from production to subsidies
• Introduction of subsidies in (2006) 2007 ‐payments of 124‐306 €/ha for grassland. SAP/AES have become and important income source (more than production value?)
• Positive outcomes for commons – increased investment, increased maintenance
• Negative (?) outcomes for commons – area‐based payments need a 5 year contract with a legal person. Pastures now divided into parcels in sole use by an individual.
Common Pastures in Southern Transylvania – economiceconomic, social and environmental values
• 20th century: elected pastoral committee, annual pasture meeting, obligation to contribute to pasture maintenance and cooperation.
• Today: no change in official structures, but instead of cooperation, competition for subsidies (and corruption). Smallest farmers have the least benefit.
• There is the possibility to form farmer associations as a new form of commons institution, but there is a big lack of trust.
Common Pastures in Southern Transylvania – economic, socialsocial and environmental values
Social values of commons: from cooperation to individualism
Common Pastures in Southern Transylvania – economic, social and environmentalenvironmentalvaluesLocalLocal and landscapelandscape effects on plants and Orthoptera (grasshoppers,
crickets and bush‐crickets) in common pastures:
Common Pastures in Southern Transylvania – economic, social and environmentalenvironmentalvalues
Plant species richness d.f. F pSoil pH 46 17.02 <0.001Landscape heterogeneity (2km) 46 8.41 0.006‘southness’ of plot 46 2.95 0.093Soil Nitrogen 46 2.64 0.111
Orthoptera species richness d.f. F pVegetation height 47 5.47 0.024Grassland coverage (2km) 47 4.83 0.033Plant species richness 47 2.90 0.095
Orthoptera abundance d.f. F pGrassland coverage (2km) 48 4.60 0.037Plant species richness 48 3.89 0.054
Landscape heterogeneity Grassland coverage
LocalLocal and landscapelandscape effects on plants and Orthoptera (grasshoppers, crickets and bush‐crickets) in common pastures:
Conclusions
• Economic values are low in absolute terms (i.e. kg milk and meat/ha), but vital to users.
• Social values – an opportunity for cooperation in an otherwise fragmented community?
• Environmental values – pastures are not only species rich themselves but linked to surrounding habitats, intensification and homogenization of landscape could also affect grasslands.
• These values are dependent on communal management, but also part of the reason for change towards a single‐user system
Common Pastures in Southern Transylvania – economic, social and environmental values
http://www.fundatia‐adept.org/
• Species that increase with landscape heterogeneity are often those typical of dry grasslands
Common Pastures in Southern Transylvania – economic, social and environmentalenvironmentalvaluesLocalLocal and landscapelandscape effects on plants and Orthoptera (grasshoppers,
crickets and bush‐crickets) in common pastures:
Legal frameworks for common pastures in Romania
Commons type Property rights Use rights Administrati
on Main distribution
composesorat Private property of the local community
Can be restricted to members (not always); usually inherited
Elected members
(HU speaking) Transylvania and N.
Romania
obştePrivate property of
the local community
Restricted to members; membership inherited/ through
residence
Elected members
Regions of Wallachia and Moldavia
izlaz Public property of the local community
Any inhabitant of the municipality
Elected pastoral
committeeThroughout Romania
Table based on Mantescu 2009: When Globalization meets Postsocialism. Community‐based institutions for managing forest commons and the internationalization of timber market in Romania (http://www.econ.unavarra.es/seminarios/Seminarios%20antiguo/Papers0809/Mantescu.pdf)
Neither sale nor change of land use is allowed for state owned common pasture