POLICY MATTERS 2014: REMEMBERING ELINOR OSTROM
16
language that can be used to understand
the patterns of interactions and outcomes
occurring in complex urban systems (Ostrom
2007). Ostrom recommended that the SES
framework be used as the initial organizing
language by scholars, citizens, and officials
who are trying to understand a complex
system so as to achieve effective, fair, and
sustainable policies over time (Ostrom
2009). This framework provides a common
analytical language to identify the broad
characteristics of a Resource System and
related Resource Units, a Governance System,
and Actors that together impact on the
structure of Action Situations, leading to
specific Interactions and Outcomes. During
the last year of Ostrom’s life, she and one of
the authors of this paper (HN) had initiated
research applying the SES framework to an
urban context in the south Indian city of
Bangalore, to examine the effects of diverse
structural variables on interactions and
outcomes achieved related to seven of the
city’s lakes (Plate 2).
Bangalore, a city in a semi-arid region of
south-central India, was formerly dependent
on numerous artificial lakes that have
witnessed tremendous encroachment and
pollution in recent years (D’Souza and
Nagendra 2011). Once managed as commons
by local communities, these lakes are now
governed by a number of government
departments with overlapping jurisdictions.
While many lakes continue to be severely
polluted, a few lakes have been effectively
restored in recent years and managed
collaboratively by local citizen groups
working with the city municipality (Nagendra
2010). Nagendra and Ostrom applied the SES
framework to investigate the conditions that
may shape the ecological and social outcomes
associated with these lakes. Collective action
was high in six out of the seven lakes studied.
Yet, only in two of these lakes were citizens
able to successfully translate collective action
into positive ecological outcomes.
The Bangalore example highlights the
challenge of protecting and cleaning up
urban lakes in a setting of continued
pollution, which is very difficult without
the involvement of citizens (to closely
monitor and manage local challenges) and
government organizations (to solve large
scale technical problems and deal with
social challenges such as sanctioning major
polluters). Contrary to the trend of increased
centralization in the country’s urban areas,
a polycentric structure seems most effective
for solving the numerous environmental
challenges plaguing Indian cities (Nagendra
et al. 2012)—especially through the
explicit provision of opportunities for
local communities to work effectively with
governmental agencies.
TRANSLATING OSTROM’S IDEAS ON
THE COMMONS INTO PRACTICE:
THE INDIAN CONTEXT
Though the Indian economy is growing at
a rate of 9% annually, the geographies in
which this development is located and the
constituency it benefits, remain narrow.
Commons or common pool resources form
critical components that supplement and
support rural communities dependent on
agriculture, livestock and forests in large
parts of India, but especially across dryland
and tribal areas. The role of land and water
resources commons in strengthening the
viability of the agro-pastoral production
systems and the resilience of household
livelihoods has been insufficiently recognized
so far.
A recent study by the Foundation for
Ecological Security (2012) further
documented the importance of the commons
for rural livelihood support. Conducted in
seven states—Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya
Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra
Pradesh and Odisha—the study spanned
3000 households in 100 villages in arid,
semi-arid and sub-humid parts of the country.
Dependence on the commons was very
high, with 98% of households accessing the
commons for different types of use, with
69% using the commons for grazing, 30% for
fodder collection, 53% using the commons for
agriculture and 38% for food, 74% deriving
fuelwood, and 38% collecting non-timber
forest products. In sub-humid areas, people
POLICY MATTERS 2014: REMEMBERING ELINOR OSTROM
17
largely utilized the commons for meeting
agricultural needs, while in arid and semi-
arid regions, the commons were critical for
livestock grazing. Dependence on community
sources of water, such as tanks, ponds, rivers
was also high, as was dependence on forests
for timber, fuel wood and non-timber forest
products. Resources from the commons
contributed to a substantial proportion of
household income, about 25%—and an even
higher proportion of 31% of net income for
the landless, who were highly dependent
on fuel wood from the commons. This study
indicates that India needs to strengthen its
information databases on common land
and water resources, along the lines of the
databases developed by Ostrom and her
colleagues on forest, irrigation and marine
commons across the world. Such databases
could help to dispel myths related to their
‘residual’ character and thereby their
degradation, by assessing the actual extent
and status of resources that are generally
considered as common pool in nature as well
as the nature of property rights governing the
same.
The studies described above clearly
demonstrate that continued access to the
commons helps provide stability and security
in an unpredictable environment. Although
especially critical for landless households,
commons are also very important for large
rural land-owners. Yet, land use data from
Indian states demonstrates that common
lands have seen an overall reduction in
area, with a marked decline in grazing lands
and cultivable “wastelands”. The crisis is
a manifestation of institutional apathy,
following neglect of traditional institutional
arrangements and the customary rights of
people in the institutional solutions proposed
Plate 2: Elinor Ostrom planting a jackfruit tree at the Kaikondrahalli lake in Bangalore in February 2012, surrounded by
members of the local community closely involved in restoration and lake management (Photo credit: Harini Nagendra).