Water Use and User Attitudes: Common-Pool Resources and Longitudinal Change in a Brazilian Community. Issue 2 (1st June 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Ditty, John Marr; Totti, Maria Eugênia
• Is Part Of: Nature + culture. Volume 14:Issue 2(2019)
• Page Start: 168
• Page End: 189
• Publication Date: 2019-06-01
• Subjects: coastal development -- common property resource -- natural resource management -- resource user -- sustainability -- user perspective; Environmental sciences -- Periodicals; Nature and civilization -- Periodicals; 306
• DOI: 10.3167/nc.2019.140204
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1558-6073

Abstract

Abstract : Common-pool resources (CPRs) are subtractable resources that are physically or institutionally available for many users. The present study sought primary participant observation and focus group data on a Brazilian CPR-dependent community. It analyzes this data through the lens of CPR theory to assess ongoing local natural resource management efforts against longitudinal changes related to large-scale state and private development projects. The findings indicate that real or perceived changes related to the resources, technology, human populations, and decision-making processes in the study area have disrupted social arrangements and resulted in natural resource degradation. The article argues that, in order to achieve sustainability objectives, CPR-guided policy formulation must consider the social embeddedness of community-based actors and resources within their wider historical and social contexts, as well as user attitudes and relations among shifting conditions on multiple scales.