The Comedy of the Commons?

Common Property Resource Management

Leah S. Horowitz, Ph.D. leah@env.leeds.ac.uk

Themes today Open-access vs. common property Privatisation State ownership Common property theory Common property resource management (CPRM) Problems faced by CPRM systems Case study #1: Cree Indian fisheries as CPRM

systems Case study #2: Grasslands management in the

Highlands of Ethiopia

Open-access vs. common property Hardin, Garrett 1968.

The tragedy of the commons. Science 162: 1243-1248.

William Forster Lloyd compared the English

labor market to a grazing commons

people keep adding cows, having babies

overexploitation, oversaturation

Hardin’s angle individual self-interest “rational” economic behavior “Freedom in a commons brings ruin for all.” Two solutions

State control privatization

Requirements for privatization

Divisibility Equity of

distribution Long-term interest State enforcement

State ownership Enforcement External

management Resentment Creating

“open-access” systems

Common property theory Hardin’s unjustified assumptions

resource users are selfish common resources are open-access

Common property ≠ open access Common property resources

restricted to a group governed by rules

References McCay, Bonnie and James M. Acheson (eds.) 1987. The

question of the commons: the culture and ecology of communal resources. Tucson: University of Arizona Press.

Ostrom, Elinor 1990. Governing the commons: the evolution of institutions for collective action. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Ostrom, Elinor, Thomas Dietz, Nives Dolsak, Paul C. Stern, Susan Stonich, and Elke U. Weber 2002. The drama of the commons. Washington: National Academy Press.

Common property resource management (CPRM)

Created under conditions of scarcity

Advantages less bureaucratic

inefficiency local experience adaptability acceptance cost-effectiveness

Requirements for CPRM Small user group Exclusivity Social network Expectations Cultural factors

values ideologies moral code

Communities are systems of social relations

Disadvantages Intra-

community disputes

Difficulties in setting rules

Inequitable resource distribution

Problems faced by CPRM systems Technological

innovation Commercialization Education Changing belief

systems Government

opposition

Case study #1: Cree Indian fisheries as CPRM systems

Berkes, Fikret 1987. Common-property resource management and Cree Indian fisheries in subarctic Canada. Pp. 66-90 in B. McCay and J.M. Acheson (eds.) 1987. The question of the commons: the culture and ecology of communal resources. Tucson: University of Arizona Press.

Chisasibi territory, Canada

Beaver and goose management Trap-lines and goose

territories “Beaver boss” or “goose-

shooting boss” responsibility to manage the

harvesting activity community can punish him

Fish management Abundant Only used for food Management

fishing territories inexhaustible disrespectful to manage

scientifically follow proper procedures, show

respect code of ethics

Threats to the Cree CPRM systems

Improved access Increased

population Technology Loss of traditional

knowledge

Case study #2: Grasslands management in Ethiopia

Ashenafi, Zelealem Tefera and N. Leader-Williams 2006. Indigenous common property resource management in the central highlands of Ethiopia. Human Ecology 33(4): 539-563.

Guassa area, Ethiopia

CPRM of the Guassa area “Pioneer fathers” forbid settlement, 17th c. Qero

headmen responsible for protecting their area parishes with headman esquire restrictions on who and when patrols punishments

The socialist revolution 1975: all rural land

to the state Guassa Committee Peasant

associations by-laws patrols punishments

Problems with the new management Ineffectiveness

lack of ownership interference drought weak enforcement immigration market overexploitation illegal use

Socioeconomic changes increased land pressure villagization

One community member’s perspective It was a taboo and an insult in our forefathers’

time to sell Guassa grass. How can someone sell something that is not his own property? We got the Guassa from our forefathers and we should hand it to our children as we received it. The situation is different, now the Guassa grass has become a commodity to sell and buy in the market. (A 67-year-old informant from Tesfomentier Peasant Association)