Library on Governance in Social-Ecological Systems

Case Studies of Social-Ecological Systems

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Type

Las Cebollas protective forest, Quezaltepeque municipality, western Guatemala

Case
Las Cebollasforest community is located in the municipality of Quezaltepeque, in western Guatemala.  It encompasses a geographical area of 1850 ha of land much of it on slopes of about 1500m. The case study involves a snapshot in time in 1998 and catalogues an action situation involving 43 households which are dependent on the forest for three main purposes: 1) extraction of ocote, or resinous pine, for kindling, 2) extractions of firewood, oak varieties being preferred because they produce...
09 Aug 2016

Living in a network of scaling cities and finite resources

Case
This is a placeholder case for the model of the same name. A quantitative model of a multiple consumer-resource system with multiple consumer-consumer and consumer-resource couplings. Consumers are "cities" that display non-linear scaling behaviors and inter-city migration. 
30 Sep 2016

Lobsterfishing, Mount Desert Island, Maine

Case
The lobster grounds of Mount Desert Island are located within Hancock County, Maine, some 250 miles northeast of Boston and 150 miles southwest of the U.S. - Canada border. The original case spans from 1969 to1974 and catalogues an action situation involving approximately 75 lobster fishermen; lobster is the stationary resource unit. This case study is part of the original Common-Pool Resource (CPR) database. A summary of the original CPR coding conducted in the 1980s by Edella Schlager and...
09 Aug 2016

Loma Alta community forest, western Equador

Case
This paper provides an explanation for the lack of institutions regulating the Loma Alta Forest. The community has not yet created any rules regarding forest use. The members of the community with the biggest economic stake in the forest have no reason to limit their exploitative practices, and thus little demand exists for forest regulation at the local level. The Loma Alta Forest is in danger of being more severely degraded in the near future because of the lack of forestry institutions....
09 Aug 2016

Lothar farmer-managed irrigation system, Chitwan district, Nepal

Case
Lothar is a farmer-managed irrigation system in the Chitwan district, about 30 kilometres east of the city of Bharatpur in Nepal. The resource unit is water for irrigation. The system comprises of a main canal, an approach canal, six branch canals, and field channels. Individual farmers are responsible for maintaining field channels and tertiary canals. During the time of the original case, which spans from 1985 to 1986, there was no history of conflicts in the irrigation system. This case...
09 Aug 2016

Lurin Sayoc Irrigation, Quinua District, Peru

Case
Lurin Sayoc is one of the two barrios of Quinua district of Ayacucho Province in the Peruvian highlands. The resource appropriated related to the social dilemma is water for irrigation distributed through a canal, diverted by stream. The original case was reported in 1976 and 1977 and catalogues an action situation involving 5,348 people. The author reported many fights around water use. This case study is part of the original Common-Pool Resource (CPR) database. A summary of the original CPR...
09 Aug 2016

Magar Kulo, Bhote Namlang Village Panchayat, Sindhupalchok District, Nepal

Case
This case is part of the original Nepal Irrigation Institutions and Systems (NIIS) database developed in the 1980's by a team of researchers under the direction of Dr. Elinor Ostrom at Indiana University. In addition, this case is also part of a longitudinal study that has repeatedly investigated 19 farmer-managed irrigation systems (FMIS) in the Indrawati River Basin that participated in an innovative intervention designed to improve irrigation performance not only by improving physical...
09 Aug 2016

Majha Ko Kulo (b), Thamalangtar Dhap Village Panchayat, Sindhupalchok District, Nepal

Case
This case is part of the original Nepal Irrigation Institutions and Systems (NIIS) database developed in the 1980's by a team of researchers under the direction of Dr. Elinor Ostrom at Indiana University. In addition, this case is also part of a longitudinal study that has repeatedly investigated 19 farmer-managed irrigation systems (FMIS) in the Indrawati River Basin that participated in an innovative intervention designed to improve irrigation performance not only by improving physical...
09 Aug 2016

Majha Ko Kulo (d), Baguwa, Sikharpur Village Panchayat, Sindhupalchok District, Nepal

Case
This case is part of the original Nepal Irrigation Institutions and Systems (NIIS) database developed in the 1980's by a team of researchers under the direction of Dr. Elinor Ostrom at Indiana University. In addition, this case is also part of a longitudinal study that has repeatedly investigated 19 farmer-managed irrigation systems (FMIS) in the Indrawati River Basin that participated in an innovative intervention designed to improve irrigation performance not only by improving physical...
09 Aug 2016

Marine Protected Areas in the Gulf of California, Sonora, Mexico

Case
Marine protected areas remain as one of the most popular tools for the conservation and management of natural resources in marine ecosystems. However, mere establishment of MPAs without the proper design, management, or enforcement tools may give a false sense of security that such MPAs will be enough to sustain marine resources. The Gulf of California (GOC), in Mexico, has received a great deal of attention over the past 20 years as a region where conservation and resource management efforts...
09 Aug 2016

Maritime Extractive Reserve (MER) and Traditional Beach Seining in Arraial do Cabo, Brazil

Case
The Arraial do Cabo Marine Extractive Reserve (MER) and fishing community is located on a cape that extends approximately 40 km into the ocean about 164 km east of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.  The MER encompasses a total marine area of approximately 57 ha which is utilized by seiners/fishermen from four different beaches.  The case study involves a time period which predates the 1960s and ends approximately in the early 2000s and draws on informal and semi-structured interviews with seiners...
09 Aug 2016

Mathematical Models in Social Ecological Systems

Case
This case is an umbrella to capture a range of models of ecological, social, social-ecological, and other natural systems (e.g. climate).  In addition, there are several models whose main purpose is to demonstrate model visualization features related to a number of famous mathematical models including the Lorenz Model, the discrete logistic, and predator prey models. The Lorenz Model, probably the most famous of all simple models, is the first ever model of a chaotic dynamical system....
09 Aug 2016

Matsigenka agriculture, Manu Biosphere Reserve, Peru

Case
Arable land among the Matsigenka is a public good (Ostrom 2005: 24). At base the Matsigenka do not have institutions that regulate who can access arable land. Anyone who has been incorporated into a community has the right to access arable land. The only requirement before opening up a new field is that people must state their intent. This practice decreases the probability of clearing a plot of land that someone else was planning to clear. In short, use of arable land does not affect the...
09 Aug 2016

Mauraro irrigation system, Mauraro barrio, Albay province, Philippines

Case
Mauraro Irrigation system is located in Albay in Philippines. The resource appropriated related to the social dilemma is water for irrigation distributed through a canal. The original case was reported in 1980 and catalogues an action situation involving 26 farmers. In the Mauraro Irrigation System, nobody in particular is responsible for the allocation and distribution of water. The cleaning and repair of the system's structures are the responsibility of each and every farmer. But the farmer...
09 Aug 2016

Messolonghi-Etolico Lagoon Fishery, Greece

Case
The Messolonghi-Etolico lagoon is in the northern part of Patraikos Gulf, on the west coast of central Greece. The original case, which was published in 1984, catalogues an action situation with approximately 200 independent fishermen and 170 fishermen in 11 co-ops. The resource units are mullets, sea-bream, eel, and sea-bass. The co-ops feel the independents are free-riders on co-op efforts to trap fish; independents resent the co-ops' privileges, power, and subterfuges to restrict membership...
09 Aug 2016