India: Wetlands as a Case Study in “Commons Capitalism”

Wetlands are a critical resource, essential not only to water quality and quantity, but also to human sustenance and to the thriving ecosystems. Human and ecosystem dependence on wetlands is not well recognised in governmental oversight and community attitudes. As such, markets undervalue them and businesses and industry consider them disposable. Given that the market economy controls the “new normal”, it has not been uncommon for States, when formulating policies to exploit wetland resources for gain, thereby undermining their future and sustainability. India has made some attempts, both nationally and internationally to resolve these matters. This paper is an attempt to showcase one such common property resource, i.e. wetlands in the city of Bangalore, which are under tremendous stress from capitalism.

The Economics of Common Pool Resources

The paper analyses open access and common property resource systems drawing insights from new institutional economics, especially property rights theory and policy analysis. This analysis of common pool resources (CPRs) under common property regimes indicates that local communities devise formal and informal institutions in managing the local commons. The paper further discusses how N. S. Jodha’s empirical work on the economics of CPRs has enhanced our understanding of the role of CPRs in the livelihood strategies of the poor in the developing world. Devolution of authority to local resource users is emphasized as an institutional imperative in designing appropriate forms of governance structures for CPR management.

Formation Factors and Effects on Common Property Resource Conservation of Community Farms

In recent decades, there has been a global debate over who should manage common property resources (CPRs) related to agriculture. Because rational and efficient farmers only work farmland with good conditions or leave for other industries, in areas where production conditions are poor, local resources that were once collectively maintained are no longer managed. The Japanese government has positioned community farms (CFs) as an important player in local agriculture and has been striving to develop them. This study clarifies whether the formation and development of these CFs are functioning effectively for the conservation of local resources. Specifically, we use the propensity score matching method to measure the average treatment effect of CF formation and development on CPR conservation activities and the prevention of cultivation abandonment. In particular, this study tests the hypothesis that farmers are reluctant to develop CFs extensively because their effects on CPR conservation are uncertain. The results show that at the early stage, the formation of CFs has a significantly positive effect on the promotion of CPR conservation, but its wide-area development is counterproductive to CPR management, suggesting that resourceful support is needed according to local conditions.

An Overview of Community and Ecotourism

This chapter introduces community intervention strategies in the protected area (PA)-based ecotourism destinations and delineates the scope and relevance of the research included in this book. An outline of ecotourism development initiatives in India, considering ecotourism as a common property resource (CPR) management strategy has been presented. The interlinkages between community and ecotourism has been introduced along with an orientation of grassroots-level institutional framework of ecotourism in India for the better understanding of the research study.

EVOLUSI DAN TANTANGAN GOVERNANCE UNTUK COMMON PROPERTY RESOURCE

Lingkungan laut adalah contoh klasik dari common property resource. Berbagai permasalahan kerusakan lingkungan laut terkait dengan praktek-praktek pemanfaatan yang tidak berkelanjutan semakin meluas, salah satunya karena sifatnya yang open access.Berbagai studi menyimpulkan bahwa penanganan kerusakan lingkungan laut tersebut membutuhkan perhatian untuk prioritas penanganan dan perubahan signifikan dalam kebijakan yang memberikan pengaruh terhadap interaksi manusia dengan lingkungan laut.Perdebatan tentang pentingnya mengatur sumber daya alam, termasuk laut, sebagai common property resource, terkait erat dengan masalah governance, termasuk pengaturan sistem sosial-ekonomi, politik, dan birokrasi yang terkait. Paper ini membahas bagaimana evolusi dan tantangan governance dalam pengelolaan common property resource (CPR) melalui kajian literatur. Pada bagian pertama, paper ini akan mendiskusikan perkembangan teori CPR yang dilatarbelakangi oleh perkembangan CPR yang sangat kompleks, dan bagaimana pergeseran tersebut mempengaruhi pendekatan governance. Hasil review ini menjadi dasar untuk mendiskusikan tantangan yang terkait dengan governance CPR, termasuk lingkungan laut. Paper ini diakhiri dengan kesimpulan dan kemungkinan penelitian terkait governance laut sebagai CPR. Kata kunci: governance, common property resources, konservasi, laut