Common Property Resource Management Issues in World Bank Projects

The concept of common property resource management originated in resource economics and political economy and has been expanded on by anthropologists. The common property resource management approach integrates perspectives, data, and ways of working from the environmental sciences, economics, and anthropology. From the point of view of the overriding goals of the Bank's work--poverty reduction and sustainable development--it represents a broad and holistic approach. Common property resource management complements the emphasis on private property, eases analysis and understanding of the interaction of different resource management systems on various levels, allows a more culturally sensitive approach to project preparation and implementation, and contributes to increasing environmental and social sustainability.

This research looks at common property resource management issues in World Bank projects. Its analytical approach includes general participation methods, social assessment, and interviews. It has gathered information from people affected by projects, traditional leaders, project documents, and the social science literature (including sociology, anthropology, history, and political science). Data collection, along with preliminary analysis and dissemination, was completed in June 1997. A final report is being prepared.

The research has found that all natural resources that are managed in a traditional way, or in a way that combines traditional and more modern approaches, are affected by Bank projects. The recognition of traditional property rights in Bank projects varies enormously across sectors, countries, and regions. In some sectors, such as rangeland management in Africa, traditional resource management is commonly emphasized in Bank projects. In others, such as fisheries, it has received little attention. The role of the task manager is clearly very important, as is that of the borrower country. With few exceptions, traditional property rights are not addressed in the Bank's economic and sector work and country assistance strategies. As a rule, borrowers attach little value to supporting and maintaining communally managed natural resources, for many reasons. Often the explanation has to do with the rural-urban dichotomy--between rural resource users and urban decisionmakers. Management of traditional property rights knowledge within the Bank, including establishing and maintaining institutional memory, is difficult because this knowledge builds on different disciplines.

The project's findings are being disseminated outside the Bank largely though conferences and workshops. Within the Bank the Common Property Resource Management Network (CPRNET) was established in early 1995 partly as a vehicle for raising the awareness of common property resource management among Bank operational and legal staff. The CPRNET organized a number of lunch seminars in February­June 1997 that addressed aspects of common property resource management in the Bank, including both operational and policy-related issues.

The preliminary findings of this project are particularly important for Bank operations involving indigenous people and involuntary resettlement. Results and insights from the project have already had some influence on several operations: the Bangladesh Third Fisheries Project, the Ghana Sector Work on Integrated Coastal Zone Management, and the Bangladesh Fourth Fisheries Project (under preparation).

Responsibility: Asia Technical Department, Environment and Natural Resources Division--Maritta Koch-Weser (mkochweser@worldbank.org) and Lars T. Soeftestad; and Environment Department, Social Policy and Resettlement Division--Gloria Davis and Narpat S. Jodha. The Norwegian Consultant Trust Fund contributed funding for the research.

Completion date: October 1997.

Reports:

Soeftestad, Lars. 1996. "Voices from Below and from Within: Institutions and Resource Management in Coastal Ghana." Paper presented at annual conference of the International Association for the Study of Common Property, Berkeley, California, June 5­8.

_____. 1997. "Property Rights and Environmental and Social Sustainability." Paper presented at annual conference of the Society for Applied Anthropology, Seattle, March 4­9.

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