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ecological knowledge may develop to control the exploitation of resources (Berkes,
1989). Such institutions, however, may be dysfunctional (Arnott &
Stiglitz,1991).Further, their lack of legitimacy may reduce their effectiveness
(MacKean, in McKay & Jones,1997). In that case State support is necessary to
create an effective resource management system (Berkes,1989). It is in this context
that the concept of co-management has emerged.
Ostrom (1991) has argued that mere presence of collective interests may not suffice
to induce co-operation. Self-interested persons will try to free ride on the
environmental concerns of others and this will prevent the emergence of institutions
which achieve the collective goals. Nevertheless “… the analytically uncomfortable
fact … remains : from the most primitive to the most advanced societies, a higher
degree of co-operation takes place then can be explained as a merely pragmatic
strategy for egoistic man” (Dawes & Thaler, 1988). This has led scholars from
various disciplines – economics, geographers, anthropologist, sociologists – to
analyze how these institutions are created and how they evolve under the changing
socio-economic conditions.
Such studies of common property resources have typically examined the functioning
of CPR systems from within. They consider CPR systems as a closed system
functioning in an insulated environment. But there are different forces that are at
work in influencing the evolution of CPR regimes. It is being increasingly recognized
that a significant proportion of these forces is exogenous to the community.
Examples of such forces are urbanization, commercialization, etc. The influence of
these forces are, however, traditionally over-looked. For instance, the forces of
commercialization are either ignored – as in the works of Ostrom – or treated as
destabilizing forces – as in Goodland et al (Berkes, 1989). However, CPRs often
composed of marketable commodities. As their market expands, increasing demand
for these products will create incentives to increase the rate of exploitation. The
response of the community in such situations forms an interesting study.
Our project, therefore, sought to examine the evolution of CPR systems as a
response to endogenous as well as external forces. This enables us to identify
potential areas where government intervention is required to support community-
based systems.
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