Choosing Right: Analysing NGO interventions in sustainably managing forest common pool resources

Abstract

Forest resources often provide invaluable services to local communities who are dependent on them, especially in the Global South. Such forests may be common pool resources (CPRs), characterised by high non-excludability and subtractability. Scientific literature argues that CPRs are best managed by local users. Despite a strong trend of devolving power from governments to forest dwellers, communities sometimes lack the ability to manage their forest resources. Thus, many non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have risen in response. While NGOs are highly prevalent in forest CPR governance, few scientific studies explore their interventions in CPR management.

Focussing on the Western Ghats of India, this thesis describes how NGOs intervene in the collective management of forest CPRs. It further compares these results against scientific literature identifying conditions required for successful CPR governance. It asks, how do NGO interventions within forest common pool resources in the Western Ghats compare with scientific literature on successful collective action? To answer this question, 12 design principles were identified through a literature review. Relying heavily on work by Agarwal (2001), Cox et al. (2010) and Ostrom (2015), they address a community’s ability to sustainably manage forest CPRs, focussing on rights, capacity, benefits and participation. Theory of Change was used to visualise NGO interventions as outputs, outcomes, and impacts, connecting these to rationales and challenges NGOs face.

Taking NGOs as the unit of analysis, 10 most-similar cases of NGOs were identified by snowball sampling. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews and document analysis. This data was analysed by coding it against Theory of Change elements and design principles. It was found that NGOs are active in 13 broad programme areas. They undertake interventions that actively restore local ecosystems, build community capacity and awareness, and improve community incomes. Further, all NGOs utilise many design principles in some way but are less likely to implement interventions that address harvesting rights, proportional benefit sharing, conflict resolution and graduated sanctioning. Reasoning for interventions ranged from NGO mandates, local needs and contexts and funding. Challenges included community reluctance, local politics and difficult terrain.

This thesis seeks to better connect practice and science and enable the sharing of ideas on how best to manage forest CPRs. To this end, it proposes implications for how science should consider NGOs in CPR spaces and provides practitioners with a set of interventions, connected to design principles, that they could consider implementing. Finally, it suggests future directions for new research.