Sharing power and natural resources governance

Folder presentation

Folder Contributors: Association pour contribuer à l’Amélioration de la Gouvernance de la Terre, de l’Eau et des Ressources naturelles (AGTER), International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), The World Conservation Union (IUCN), The IUCN Commission on Environmental, Economic and Social Policy (CEESP), CEESP Co-management Working Group (CEES-CWMG), Centre for Sustainable Development & Environment (CENESTA)

This file presents articles written by Mary Rodeghier and Clara Jamart, based on « Sharing Power: Learning by Doing in Co-management of Natural Resources throughout the World ».

This collective work was published in 2004 by Grazia Borrini-Feyerabend, Michel Pimbert, M.Taghi Farvar, Ashish Kothari, Yves Renard et al. It offers an overall reflection on the shared management of natural resources and tools needed.

Our intention is to provide syntheses that make main elements of this publication available and understandable for all.

This file contains four major articles that highlight the main ideas of the book. Each of these articles is then illustrated with additional information that specifies the analysis and provides concrete examples of tools for co-management.

Acces to the book on UICN website [https://portals.iucn.org/library/sites/library/files/documents/2004-059.pdf]

Table of contents

This file focuses on four specific issues. Each one is illustrated by specific papers, from the book « Sharing Power : Learning by Doing in Comanagement of Natural Resources throughout the World »

• Issue 1. Co-management and effective governance. Is co-management more effective than the non-concerted management of natural resources?

  • Illustrations

    • Co-management agreements. What are the different kinds of co-management agreements, from informal to legal?

    • Challenges for implementing a system of co-management. Power struggles over the management of coral reefs on the Miskito Coast of Nicaragua

    • Co-management as a polyvalent tool. Increasing tenure security and managing conflicts with co-management agreements

    • Indigenous Communities and the Co-management of Natural Resources

• Issue 2. Sustainable Management of Natural Resources. The call for action at the local, national, and global levels

  • Illustrations

    • Involving local communities in projects and policies for the sustainable management of natural resources. Two significant examples from Ethiopia and Iran

    • What is decentralisation? Why is it an interesting tool to promote a sustainable co-management of natural resources?

    • Example of international agreements that promote co-management principles

    • ATTAC’s policy proposals in favor of local governance

• Issue 3. The sustainable management of natural resources is a political choice. What policy instruments create environments favorable to co-management?

  • Illustrations

    • The Equatorian constitution. An exemplary constitution that recognizes communities’ rights in natural resources management

    • A few examples of policies for participation, subsidiarity, and empowerment

    • The influence of foreign agencies might restrict the freedom of action of political decision-makers. The failure of a forest protection project promoted by the World Bank in Haiti

    • A few policy suggestions for the construction of alternative societies that promote more sustainable and fairer natural resources management

• Issue 4. Natural resource management and participatory democracy. Equitable and inclusive political processes in support of sustainable natural resource management.

  • Illustrations

    • How might participatory democracy be privileged?

    • A few examples of the application of participatory methods in designing environmental policies

    • How might the efficaciousness of participatory methods be ensured?

    • Three great strategies for strengthening the civil society