- The prevailing “mindset,” that only the government can manage common property resources, was just as fallacious as the view of some NGOs that only communities can manage these resources.
- The intellectual edifice of legislation governing forests still treats those who depend on forest resources for their livelihoods as criminals.
Nobel Laureate Elinor Ostrom
- The notion that public officials were the best-equipped to resolve problems of the commons had been proven to be untrue.
- The dominant perception — that common property resources can either be managed by the government or be handed over to private interests — has been questioned.
I remember reading the hardships of Dr. Brandis. This fine forester tried to convince his English masters that co-management is the best option for Indian forestry. In the Indian context, forest is a common property resource, he argued in vain. Dr. Brandis exactly said what Nobel Laureate Elinor Ostrom said last day. How communities set their own rules and defined the rights of access to common property resources.
More than a century later, while India is exploring ways to get people involved in "joint management" of forests, Mr. Brandis might be really laughing in his grave.
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