Does decentralization work? Forest conservation in the Himalayas

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Does decentralization work? Forest conservation in the Himalayas

Author Info

E. Somanathan () (Indian Statistical Institute, New Delhi)
R. Prabhakar () (Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and Environment)
Bhupendra Singh Mehta () (Foundation for Ecological Security)

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E. Somanathan

Abstract

This paper studies the effect of decentralization of management and control on forest conservation in the central Himalayas. The density of forest cover (measured with satellite images and field surveys) in forests managed by village councils is compared with that in state-managed forests and in unmanaged village commons. Geographic proximity and historical and ecological information are used to identify the effects of the three types of management regimes. Village council management does no worse, and possibly better, at conservation than state management and costs an order of magnitude less per unit area. Relative to unmanaged commons, village council management raises crown cover in broadleaved forests (the type of forest that may provide the most benefits to villagers under the rules) but not in pine forests.

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Paper provided by Indian Statistical Institute, New Delhi, India in its series Indian Statistical Institute, Planning Unit, New Delhi Discussion Papers with number 05-04.

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Length: 42 pages
Date of creation: Feb 2005
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:ind:isipdp:05-04

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This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

NEP-ALL-2005-05-14 (All new papers)

References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:

Edmonds, Eric V., 2002. "Government-initiated community resource management and local resource extraction from Nepal's forests," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 89-115, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Sethi, Rajiv & Somanathan, E, 1996. "The Evolution of Social Norms in Common Property Resource Use," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(4), pages 766-88, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Andrew D. Foster & Mark R. Rosenzweig, 2003. "Economic Growth And The Rise Of Forests," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 118(2), pages 601-637, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Pranab Bardhan, 2002. "Decentralization of Governance and Development," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 16(4), pages 185-205, Fall. [Downloadable!] (restricted)

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(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

Ouarda Merrouche, 2007. "The Long Term Effect of Education Spending Decentralization on Human Capital in Spain," Working Papers 200708, Geary Institute, University College Dublin. [Downloadable!]
Merrouche, Ouarda, 2007. "The Long Term Effect of Education Spending Decentralization on Human Capital in Spain," Working Paper Series 2007:3, Uppsala University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]

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