the role of property rights in natural resource management, good ...

commons. Similarly, in Tanzania, the village Land Act recognizes customary occupation or use of land. InUganda, the Constitution and Land Act provide secure tenure to holders of customary land rights, andauthority of local land committees to administer customary laws. The Act allows for communal ownershipand communal claims to these resources (FAO, 2002b). In neighboring Botswana, Namibia and Malawi,state-enabling frameworks similarly authorize local committees or user groups to govern and manage severaltypes of renewable natural resources. Even though in certain cases those are new initiatives, they draw thesame power, legitimacy, and efficiency from their local foundations as do comparable local initiatives oflonger standing.In Latin America and parts of Southeast Asia over the past two decades, national laws have promoted legalrecognition of rights of indigenous peoples, giving inalienable rights to customary claims. In South America,for example, indigenous rights are legally recognized in a number of countries including Brazil, Colombia,Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador. In Bolivia, the 1996 Agrarian Reform Law legally recognizes the TierrasComunitarias de Origin giving indigenous groups collective inalienable rights over customary claims to land andresources (FAO, 2002b). In Ecuador, the Constitution recognizes inalienable land claims of indigenousgroups to customary claims. In the Philippines, the 1997 Indigenous Peoples Rights Act recognizesindigenous ownership and control of ancestral domains. Associated regulations prevent encroachment andexpropriation by outside groups. This trend in recognition of indigenous property rights is also visible in thewest. For instance, Canadian law recognizes rights of Canada’s First Nations (indigenous groups) and, in sodoing, recognize a wide variety of indigenous claims to resources, e.g., extremely valuable timber, wildlife, fishand water rights (McNeil, 2001).Over the past two decades, co-management and community-based natural resource management (CBNRM)approaches have recognized rural populations and their property rights to natural resources in variouscapacities. These hybrid property rights typically have implications for use or management rights, but rarelyfor transfer rights. Various forms of co-management and CBNRM models exist (Child, 2005). However, ingeneral, both co-management and CBNRM initiatives seek to work the diverse stakeholder groups (includinglocal user groups) linked with specific units of land and stocks of natural resources, and attempt to reconciletheir diverse interests. Under such arrangements, stakeholder groups enjoy specific benefits and shareresponsibility for management or governance of the specific unit of land or associated natural resource.Lynch (1999) makes a useful distinction between decentralization and devolution on the one hand andcommunity-based property rights on the other; advocating the latter for long-term occupants of specific areasand to the commons. As Lynch notes, the former mechanisms gives group rights to local communities foruse of public land and natural resources contained therein. In such cases, the government retains ownershipof lands but grants leases or delegates property rights for a specific period of time to local user groups undercommunity forestry, or hybrid forms of property rights such as CBRNM or co-management arrangements.Lynch advocates community-based property rights, or legal recognition of private group rights, given thatprivate rights provide greater security and are subject to fewer state controls than are use rights underdecentralized systems of natural resource management. Such private rights also allow local communities tonegotiate with governments and outside interest groups on more equal terms than those associated with userights on public lands.As decentralized and devolution approaches to natural resource management become popular around theworld, there is also recognition that devolution in particular is not a panacea. As Larson (2004) notes,decentralization or devolution may not always lead to sustainable management of natural resources, nor do allcustomary systems ensure equity of resource distribution and decision making. Elite capture may lead topowerful groups dominating decision making and resource use at the expense of the poorer and marginalizedgroup(s). In other cases, customary systems may be biased against a specific gender (typically women).Devolution of some but not all powers is therefore recommended by some, hence ensuring social equity andenvironmental sustainability as defined by national governments (Ribot, 2004). In other cases, collaborative orco-management models may provide appropriate checks and balances to ensure equitable distribution ofrights and environmental sustainability.ROLE OF PROPERTY RIGHTS IN NRM: GOOD GOVERNANCE AND EMPOWERMENT OF THE RURAL POOR 15