Governance, property rights and sustainable resource use : analysis with Indian Ocean rim examples.

Governance and property rights are closely linked and sustainable (natural) resource use is influenced by both. In studying the matter we need to take account of what is the legal position (the position de jure) and the actual situation (the position de facto). The situation as far as legal rights are concerned often diverges from the practice in developing countries because of costs and problems involved in enforcing property rights. Realistic policies must take this into account. In the past Western economists seem to have concentrated on two contrasting forms of property rights as far as resource management is concerned, namely, private property and open-access property. This dichotomy has tended to result in their support for the establishment of private property or where this is impractical, state property. The effect has been to dispossess the owners of communal or village property with many adverse consequences, examples of which are available from India. Where state property or control over natural resources, such as forests and fish, has been established, this has tended to be top down. The economic and social wisdom of this is being increasingly questioned and there are calls for greater community control over natural resources or their co-management. Some of the issues involved are illustrated by examples primarily from India. Furthermore, difficulties of sustaining communal resource systems in a dynamic world are discussed