Local people have for many years been considered by policy makers, academics
and development workers to be incapable of managing common property
resources in a sustainable manner. Customary tenure systems with their communal
forms of ownership and management were considered to be archaic, locking
people into a 'tragedy of the commons' scenario. The community was considered
unable to stop individual users from over-exploiting the resource.
...Decentralised natural resource management requires local populations and
government institutions to participate actively and equitably in decision-making
processes. A major challenge facing development organisations is how do you
support this process in a way that is both sustainable and equitable?
