La teoría de Garret Hardin, “la tragedia de los comunes”, usa como ejemplo las tierras de pastoreo para sostener que cuando mucha gente tiene acceso al mismo recurso existe la posibilidad de que las personas sobreexploten el recurso y no inviertan suficientemente en él. Esta teoría ha suscitado un debate sobre la eficacia de la gestión de la propiedad común de los recursos, especialmente en relación con las tierras de pastoreo.

This brief considers the benefits and costs of alternative tenure and institutional arrangements and the impact of existing legal and policy frameworks on the sustainability and equity of pastoral production systems under three categories of landownership: (1) state ownership; (2) individual ownership; and (3) common property... Achieving efficient, equitable, and sustainable rangeland management depends on the costs and benefits of alternative systems. These costs and benefits, in turn, depend on agroecological, sociocultural, and economic characteristics.

Readers are invited to submit manuscripts in English, French or Spanish on research and analysis of issues related to land reform, land settlement or cooperatives. Submitted manuscripts are read by members of the Editorial Board and also by outside reviewers. Authors are requested to provide an alphabetical reference list at the end of the article.

This paper describes some of the experiences of the Plan Foncier Rural (PFR) or Rural Land Plans and what they teach about the more general question of identifying and recording of these rights, including group rights.

Forests and pastoralism are in a state of crisis in the Borana lowlands in southern Ethiopia. State management has failed to control forest exploitation and past and present development interventions continue to undermine pastoral production systems. In this paper the authors aim to show how a fundamental misunderstanding of pastoral land management, and in particular pastoral tenure systems, has undermined traditional institutions and the environment for which they were once responsible.

The management of conflict over land and natural resources is a very broad issue and there is a growing literature on techniques that have potential for use in this field. At the moment, the Land Tenure Service of FAO’s Rural Development Division is working towards achieving a deeper understanding of the current methods and practices in land conflict management and is gathering cases from all over the world to ascertain the techniques used and the results achieved. This edition of Land Reform, Land Settlement and Cooperatives, prepared with the strong support of Ms A.

Newsletter of a South African research group looking at tenure security issues and legal entities, particularly Common Property Associations (CPAs). Stresses the importance of adapting rather than replacing existing institutions that already work. Provides a list of 20 research papers, conference reports etc which can be ordered by email.

The report describes the relationships and linkages between the Magadi Soda Company and four group ranches including Olkiramatian. Discussions and planning is carried out to develop mutually beneficial rural development and land use planning.

Transition from subsistence to market economy is not easy. In Papua New Guinea most land is still held under traditional systems of common property resource ownership and a growing cash economy can spark conflict concerning management or ownership issues. Research presented at the annual meeting of the UK Development Studies Association (DSA) examines the institutional limitations, during transition, of traditional ownership systems.

Since the early 1970s, the position of pastoralists in West Africa's Sahel zone has become ever more precarious. Their plight is evidenced by rural-urban migration movements as well as the results of field surveys. The last major drought of 1983-1985 delivered a major blow to communities which derive most of their food and revenues from herding. In many rangeland areas there is civil unrest - even building to armed conflict in places - owing to mounting tensions between various pastoral groups.

The 21st Century opened with a commitment to involving forest-local communities in the processes of securing and sustaining forests. But what is the relationship between people’s right to land and the manner in which they may be involved in the management of forests?

For over a hundred years the zone of Kisha Beiga, in Burkina Faso, was plagued by ethnic conflicts, revolution and political anarchy. Local rivalries and administrative chaos put paid to any efforts to manage natural resources efficiently. Then, in 1991, the Burkinabe Sahel Programme (PSB) set out to quell factional rivalry and establish sustainable resource-management in the area. A fragile consensus has been achieved, but it has not been easy. Leadership conflicts, land tenure issues and administrative anomalies have threatened to derail the project.