Library on Governance in Social-Ecological Systems

Case Studies of Social-Ecological Systems

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Type

Irrigation watercourse in Punjab Province, Pakistan

Case
  The irrigation system being studied is located in the state of Punjab in Pakistan. The resource appropriated is water for irrigation. The authors find that farmers operate their irrigation system under a contradictory system of de jure and de facto rules. Illegal trading of water among farmers occurs frequently. Farmers use extra-legal means to obtain increased water supplies through bribes to Canal Department officials. Farmers organize predominately around brotherhood or kinship groups for...
09 Aug 2016

Irrigation watercourse, "Area Four", Taiwan

Case
The resource appropriated from this watercourse in Area Four (actual names of communities removed in case study) is water for irrigation. At the beginning of the study, the authors describe a moderate shortage of biological and physical resources withdrawn compared to the number of units available. Area Four has irrigation associations run by full-time officials, although there used to be farmers' representative committees, but at the time of the study they were temporarily suspended. There are...
09 Aug 2016

Irrigation watercourse, "Area One", Pakistan

Case
The resource appropriated from this watercourse in Area One (actual names of communities were removed in the case study) is water for irrigation. Area One is a large irrigation system managed by a government bureaucracy. There are no formal organizations at the watercourse level, though informal arrangements exist in all watercourses for mobilizing farmers to carry out maintenance on a communal basis. The system as a whole is not managed effectively. There are over 5000 total appropriator teams...
09 Aug 2016

Jambudwip Marine Fishery, India

Case
Jambudwip, an island in the Bay of Bengal, is located about 7 miles to the southwest of Bakkhali in the South 24 Parganas district in the state of West Bengal, India. The original case, which spans from 1967-1968, catalogues an action situation involving approximately 243 fishermen in the village; the resource unit are demersal and midwater fish species. The boundary is based on traditional use and technology limitations. Two distinct types of institutional arrangements exist among the...
09 Aug 2016

Kagodo myok grounds II, South Korea

Case
This case is an update on a prior case study about the Kagodo myok (seaweed) grounds (Case No. 86) analyzing Sang-Bok Han’s 1972 Ph.D. dissertation on field work conducted in three South Korean fishing communities from 1968 to 1972.  For purposes of this report, the SES study boundaries were expanded to include the entire South Korean coastal area and the fishery resources surrounding the peninsula extending 200 nautical miles to the east, south, and west.  Update prepared by Ute Brady,...
09 Aug 2016

Kampong Mee Trawl Fishery, Malaysia

Case
Kampong Mee is a fishing community that is located near the urban areas of Penang and several other fishing ports in Malaysia. The original case, which was published in 1977, catalogues approximately 2,000 inhabitants and 150 boats; the resource unit is demersal fish. Overfishing is the main common pool resource problem. In an attempt to limit overfishing, six co-operatvies were established. Co-operative committee heads are appointed by the government and were established to manage the...
09 Aug 2016

Kheri irrigation system, Sonjo village, Ngorongoro district, Tanzania

Case
The case of Kheri Irrigation takes place in Sonjo village of Kheri and its adjacent farmlands within the Ngorongoro district of the Arusah region in Tanzania. The resource appropriated is water flowing from a stream, three springs, furrows, and sluices that supply water for irrigation and domestic uses. The boundaries of the location are defined by the village settlement and the land owned by the village people. There are a total of 101-200 formally organized appropriator teams. After Gray's (...
09 Aug 2016

Kottapalle open-field husbandry and canal irrigation, Kurnool district, Andhra Pradesh, South India

Case
Located in the Nowk valley in Kurnool district in the state of Andhra Pradesh in South India, Kottapalle has an area of 4,600 acres. The village is in the tail-end of a 20-mile irrigation canal. The original research was conducted from 1980 to 1982. The state Irrigation Department is responsible for regulating water allocation between each outlet between each village from the canal. The local council is responsible for distribution of water to fields in the village.  Also, livestock are needed...
09 Aug 2016

Kurnool-Cuddapah canal large-scale irrigation system in Andhra Pradesh, South India

Case
  The Kurnool-Cuddapah (KC) Canal Irrigation System draws water from Tungabhadra river through the Sunkesula Dam on flows through Cuddapah and Kurnool districts in state of Andhra Pradesh in South India providing water to around 120,000 hectares and servicing around 250,000 farm households (check). It was originally built by the Dutch for navigation purposes and later sold to the British and used for irrigation purposes. It was modernized somewhat around 1950s. The main canal is largely a "...
09 Aug 2016

La Campa Municipio Community Forests, Honduras

Case
The La Campa municipio community forests are located in the Department of Lempira, western Honduras.  The community forests encompass an unknown geographical area that is characterized by a mountainous landscape, steep slopes and poor soils.  The case study involves a snapshot in time from 1993 to 1998 and catalogues an action situation involving approximately 8,000 community members organized in an unknown number of households who depend on subsistence crops (maize, beans, banana), and rely on...
09 Aug 2016

Lakes Entrance scallop fishery, eastern Victoria, Australia

Case
The Lakes Entrance scallop fishery is located in Bass Strait outside the city of Lakes Entrance in eastern Victoria, Australia and as far south as Tasmania in depths of 10-30 fathoms . The original case, which was published in 1982, catalogs the management of both Lakes Entrance and nearby Port Phillip Bay fisheries following a decline in scallop stocks in the early 1970s. The shared resources relevant to the commons dilemma faced by the community include scallop stocks and their productivity (...
09 Aug 2016

Land-cover and Forest in Nepal (I)

Case
Between 1978 and 1992 dramatic forest conversion occurred in two adjacent sub-basins of the Kair Khola watershed in the Chitwan District of Nepal. However, the form of conversion differed significantly. In the Kair sub-basin dense forest was most often converted to maize-based agriculture, while in the Shakti sub-basin dense forest most often became degraded forest. This study undertook a village-level investigation of forest governance to determine whether community and institutional...
09 Aug 2016

Land-cover and Forest in Nepal (II)

Case
Between 1978 and 1992 dramatic forest conversion occurred in two adjacent sub-basins of the Kair Khola watershed in the Chitwan District of Nepal. However, the form of conversion differed significantly. In the Kair sub-basin dense forest was most often converted to maize-based agriculture, while in the Shakti sub-basin dense forest most often became degraded forest. This study undertook a village-level investigation of forest governance to determine whether community and institutional...
09 Aug 2016

Laoag-Vintar government irrigation system, Laoag City and Vintar municipality, Ilocos Norte, Philippines

Case
The Laoag-Vintar Irrigation System (LVIS), a government-owned system, serves the areas of Laoag City and the municipality of Vintar in Ilocos Norte, Philippiness. It is bounded by the Vintar-Bacarra River in the north, hills on the east, Laoag River on the south, and the China Sea on the west. The resource appropriated is water for irrigation serving about 2400 ha in the rainy season and 1200 ha during the dry season. There are 2501-5000 total appropriator teams. At the beginning of the period...
09 Aug 2016

Large N Comparative Studies of Ostrom's Design Principles

Case
There have been a number of studies that focus on testing whether and in what contexts Ostrom's institutional design principles may lead to successful governance of common-pool resources.  The study of Cox et al. (see sources) coded the presence or absence of each of 8 design principles and success in 62 cases and found that the likelihood of success and the presence of individual design principles is positively correlated.   However, because institutions are systems, it is...
13 Jul 2017