From Community Forest Management to Polycentric Governance: Assessing Evidence from the Bottom Up

Decentralization of governance is an emerging trend in many natural resource sectors in both developed and developing countries. Despite the normative agenda of community-based natural resource management for social and ecological outcomes, a shift to multilevel or polycentric theorizing is warrante...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Society & natural resources 2014-02, Vol.27 (2), p.155-169
Main Author: Bixler, R. Patrick
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Authority
Benefits
British Columbia
Canada
Community development
Community ecology
community forestry
Community Research
community-based natural resource management
cross-scale dynamics
Decentralization
Decentralization in government
Developing Countries
Ecology
Environment
Environmental Factors
environmental governance
Forest areas
Forest management
Forestry
Governance
Government and politics
Institutions
Markets
Natural resource management
Natural Resources
Networks
Planning
polycentric systems
Public administration
Qualitative research
Resource Management
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Summary:Decentralization of governance is an emerging trend in many natural resource sectors in both developed and developing countries. Despite the normative agenda of community-based natural resource management for social and ecological outcomes, a shift to multilevel or polycentric theorizing is warranted. Polycentric governance recognizes the importance of cross-scale interactions, as well as the horizontal and vertical institutional linkages of authority, networks, and markets in which community institutions are embedded. Based on qualitative community forestry research in Revelstoke, British Columbia, Canada, this article explores the themes of livelihood and local economy, collaborative forest planning and participation, and environmental governance. Bottom-up empirical evidence suggests that viewing community forestry through a polycentric governance network is necessary for theorizing complex cross-scale dynamics. Incentivizing policies that encourage the development of polycentric systems for natural resource governance is important for maintaining local benefits, while increasing adaptive capacity to deal with complex social-ecological challenges.
ISSN:0894-1920
1521-0723
DOI:10.1080/08941920.2013.840021