Natural Resource Management & the Environment
Function | Assignment/Rationale | |
| Central Government | Local/Community | |
| Coordinating compensation for resources.The market does not always compensate for resource use: management and exploitation of resources by one community can lead to negative externalities for another community. One frequently effective means of resolving the conflicts which arise from these externalities is to compensate affected communities. | Higher levels of government, possibly even international bodies. An example of this pattern is the well known example of rich countries compensating poorer countries to maintain forest reserves, in order to slow ozone depletion. | |
| Specific Resource Management | Resources (e.g., rangeland management) where the the minimum unit for sustainable management is too large, or the resource users cannot be clearly identified. | Most other resources. |
| Implementing environmental strategy | Should create conditions for large-scale adoption of successful local efforts, also facilitate coordination between local units. | Perform day-to-day resource management: levy user charges, enforce compliance with exclusion orders, manage financial resource, etc. |
1) Enabling policy and institutional environment
Decentralization policies have potential to encourage the evolution of community-basedinstitutions to manage natural resources locally. The propensityof individuals to organize themselves into institutions forcollective action will be partly determined by the expectedpay-offs. The benefits of cooperative management will, in turn,be affected by the:- nature of property rights for resources (i.e., whether private or common, and how well-defined)
- legal status of community-based institutions and whether they have authority to manage financial resources, levy user charges, enforce compliance with exclusion orders, etc.
- macro-economic conditions affecting the financial viability of small producers
- extent of rural infrastructure which affects the ease of access to arkets for local producers
2) Participatory processes for establishing community-based groups
Evidence suggests that community-based groups are an effective means of managing thefree-rider problems associated with most resource managementregimes. Decentralization policies on their own, however, are notnecessarily sufficient to result in the formation of thesecommunity-based groups. Catalytic external agencies usingparticipatory processes are also required to facilitate and buildlocal organizational capacity, effective community participation,and local control and authority over decisions and resources.Important issues to consider in strengthening localorganizational capacity are:- entry point subprojects that result in positive financial and/or economic returns to local communities while attaining sustainable resource management goals - the incentive for collective action
- benefits from management of natural resources must accrue quickly, locally, transparently, and as equitably as possible given the resource constraints - providing incentives to as many resource users as possible
- externalities and asymmetric costs and benefits associated with most natural resource management activities means that appropriate financial incentives are required for co-financing entry point subprojects with local communities -- improving the incentives
3) Effective operational linkages between institutional actors tofacilitate large-scale adoption of sustainable NRM practices.
There are many successful examples of using participatory processes for the formation of localmanagement systems. However, most of these successes only operate on a small scale. The challenge lies in creating the conditionsfor large-scale adoption of successful community-based management systems. This requires effective operational linkages between thepublic sector, private sector, and community-based groups. Issues to be considered include:
- review and restructuring of public sector agencies to become more responsive to clients
- decentralization of responsibility and authority for resource management decisions to the most appropriate level (subsidiarity)
- design of appropriate decentralized financial instrument (e.g., social fund, demand driven rural investment fund, or local development fund) for financing community-based resource management initiatives
- decentralized financial instruments must enable community-based local procurement of goods and services.
