English - Support to Participatory Constitution Building in Nepal ...

Forestland reformBesides, Ostrom (1990) also suggests that national governments canplay an important role in community-based management systems. Thisrole includes enforcing a community’s right to forest resources againstoutside interests, guarding the interests of the state against short-termprofit takers, conducting research on silviculture, forest regeneration, andother topics of interest to community-based management and providingtechnical support to local communities in the development of communityforest industries. Authors such as Sarin (1993), Arnold and Stewart (1989),and Wollenberg and Hobley (1994) specifically highlight three additionalexternal design principles (Table 6.3). These are very significant in comanagementsystems, where the role of government in terms of conflictresolution, autonomy and external support system is clearly specified.Table 6.3 Three external design principlesA mechanism to resolveinternal conflictsAccess to externalsupportIncludes access to impartial outside individuals or bodies,delegation of arbitration powers.Resources necessary for institution building are available to localinstitutions in a timely and sustainable manner.AutonomyLocal institutions should be independent of government or otherinterested parties.Source: Adapted from Ostrom (1990)Based on the analysis of the conceptual and institutional frameworkdescribed in Table 6.3, researchers have found out that common propertyregimes are suitable models for managing resources such as forests,irrigation system and water bodies that are common in nature. However,Demsetz (1967) has justified the agenda of private property and advocatedin favour of the total privatisation of resources. Similarly, many statebureaucracies find the model of Hardin (1968) useful, since they havemuch to gain from the nationalisation of the key resources. In serving theideology of economic and political elites, the ‘tragedy of the commons’type interpretations guarantee the policy prescription that reinforces thepower of the state against local communities. Because of the motivesand interests of powerful national and international actors, theoreticaldebate in the common property literature surrounding collective actionstill demands more academic attention. The issue around private propertyis not in the scope of this chapter. Nevertheless, the following section is116