[MPWG] power not poverty cause of degradation

[Eric T Jones]

At 1/8/2004, Maureen DeCoursey wrote:
>The moral of the story is: rich forests, poor people, high market demand,
>open access resource---degredation.  You know the story.

Maureen/everyone - Thanks for the excellent comments/clarification!  As I'm 
sure you know the moral of the story you describe is far more complex but 
few people take the time to research those complexities.  In my experience 
degradation has more to do with power issues than anything else.  Where 
"poor" people are calling the shots over their livelihoods, and have a 
vested interest in the well-being of the resource, is where stewardship and 
local knowledge flourishes and degradation stops.  All on open access (or 
defacto open access).  This is not an argument against holding local 
systems accountable to an overarching set of ecological principles or 
standards.

Read Ostrom et al. in the latest issue of Science, "Revisiting the 
Commons."  Read Jim Acheson's work on the lobster fisheries in Maine.

Best wishes, Eric