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| COMMUNITY-BASED NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AS A NON-LINEAR PROCESS: A CASE STUDY IN THE PERUVIAN AMAZON VARZEA |
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Reference |
| Pinedo, Danny, Summers, Percy M., Smith, Richard Chase, Saavedra, Johnny, Zumaeta, Rafael, and Angelica M Almeyda. 2000. "Community-Based Natural Resource Management As a Non-Linear Process: A Case in the Peruvian Amazon Varzea." Presented at "Constituting the Commons: Crafting Sustainable Commons in the New Millenium", the Eighth Conference of the International Association for the Study of Common Property, Bloomington, Indiana, USA, May 31-June 4. Link: http://dlc.dlib.indiana.edu/archive/00000327/ |
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Introduction to the Institution |
| The inhabitants of El Chino, like most riverine people throughout the Amazon basin, practice a diversity of livelihood strategies as a direct adaptation to the unstable environmental and economic conditions in the are. Annual variations in the environment (fruiting season, floods, etc.) force them to distribute their economic activities accordingly, as well as diversifying their production to satisfy subsistence and commercial needs throughout the year. Among the universe of possible economic strategies, the most important in Chino include lowland agriculture, hunting, fishing, upland agriculture, aguaje recollection, charcoal production and small animal raising. the thirteen lakes that surround the village are of vital importance to El Chino. the community of El Chino organized itself to protect those lakes from over-fishing mainly by commercial interests from Iquitos and to regulate the fishing practices of all Tahuayo fishermen. During the sixteen-year period from 1984 to the present, the residents of El Chino made a series of decisions in their community assembly and took a series of collective actions to exercise greater control over and regulate access to their lake fisheries. Before the residents of El Chino took their first steps in 1984 to manage some of the natural resources that they extract from both upland terra firme and seasonally flooded varzea forests, they had been collaborating with Peruvian and foreign scientists doing research in the area. This relationship which began in 1974, had an important formative influence on the resource management initiatives that would take place years later. |
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Rules for Management
of the Institution |
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(a) Boundary Rules |
| Spacial Boundaries: The community of El Chino, our case study site, is located along the Tahuayo River within the upperAmazonian floodplain, in northeastern Peru. El Chino is both nucleated and disperse. The nucleated part contains half of the domestic units that are located around the football field that also serves as a central plaza. The dispersed sector includes the other half of the domestic units that are located along both banks of the Tahuayo river up to the mouth of the Blanco River.? The inhabitants of El Chino have traditionally used over a dozen lakes that lie within their territory.Social Boundaries: El Chino is a young but typical riverine community located in the upper parts of the Tahuayo River. It is one of a series of small communities set along the rivers edge, characterized by residents with a multi-ethnic heritage who are dependent on a wide variety of natural resources (land, game, fruits, etc.) andeconomic strategies (agriculture, hunting, fishing, etc) for subsistence and commerce. The community of El Chino is currently constituted by 52 nuclear families distributed in 41 domestic units, defined as the family-grouping dependent on a single cook stove. As we see from the above numbers, many domestic units contain more than one nuclear family. Non-resident, large-scale commercial fishermen are prohibited from entering the community lakes. This prohibition was applied to both high- and low water periods, but was especially important during the two-three month period when flood waters recede and fish are most abundant. |
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(b) Governance
rules |
| The Community has an officially recognized system of authorities. This official system is composed by two office-holders: the Teniente Gobernador, and the Agente Municipal. The teniente gobernador is the political authority of the community who represents the national government. The community elects on a rotational basis from among its members a person they want to occupy this office. His job is to maintain order and to ensure that community norms and national laws are upheld. The municipal agent acts as a mayor of the village looking after whatever public works exist. Schoolteachers are also an important part of the Peruvian rural community social organization. Because of their higher educational level, the teacher is an important influence in the community, and his opinion is listened to when decisions are made. In many cases, the teacher assumes a leadership role in the community that may be greater than that of the elected authorities. The elected president of the Parent Teachers Association and local promoters of development projects (e.g. the health promoter) occasionally act as community authorities as well.A vigilance system is established in the community to ensure that communal norms were enforced. The community periodically electes a fisheries inspector whose duties include organizing the vigilance system. A raised thatch hut located at a strategic point on the Tahuayo River served as the central post, controlling access along the river to the lakes. |
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(c) Resource Allocation |
| Access to lakes: The access rights to lakes for the residents of El Chino and the other communities of the Tahuayo River are restricted during the low water season. During the high water period, when fish stocks are dispersed over the entire floodplain except for a few high restingas, the fishery in El Chino is essentially open access. Local fishermen are allowed to fish in all the flooded lakes at this time as well. Division of Lakes: The community has divided the lakes within its jurisdiction into two categories lakes for subsistence use and lakes for multiple use. The use of subsistence lakes is restricted during the low water months when fishing is permitted only with the use of hooks. Therefore, in these lakes fishing is permitted only for subsistence needs. This rule aimed to diminish pressure on the fish stocks and so to allow for their annual replenishment. The use of all types of nets is also prohibited in the subsistence lakes during the low water season. In multiple use lakes fishing is allowed at any time of the year, and fishermen are allowed to use any kind of net. However, the general prohibition on the use of toxic substances or explosives continued to prevail. These lakes are the most distant ones from the community center and therefore they are less used. Ban on nets in the lakes could be lifted for special circumstances. For example, the ban could be lifted when the community needed cash for construction or implementation of the school. Special dispensation could also be given to individual cases of special need as in the case that someone needed money for medical attention in Iquitos. Regulation on fishing techniques: All fishing techniques that destroy fish habitat or limit their reproduction like blocking the mouth of stream with net, with sticks or palm leaves, agitating the water, are prohibited. Community regulations also prohibits the use of all fish poisons, dynamite and other explosives in their lake fisheries. Quota System: The community has established a quota system for all the resources. In the case of fish, the community has set a limit of three tubs of fish per workday. In the case of game meat, there is a limit of three large animals (e.g. tapir, peccary or deer) or five small animals (e.g. rodents) every sixty days. In reference to timber, the extraction of timber is limited for domestic use. Each household is allowed to cut between 5 to 10 logs of wood every time they need construction materials. The people in charge of enforcing the quotas are the teniente gobernador and his inspectors. Closed seasons: Fishing of the species (Arapaima gigas) is prohibited during the months of October to March. The rest of the year fishing is only permitted for individuals larger than 1.60 mt. The teniente gobernador is the person responsible for enforcing this law. Taxes imposed on the Extraction of Commercial Resources: The community has also created a tax on all products extracted for commercial purposes from the forests and fisheries as a mechanism to restrict exploitation of the natural resources in El Chino. The resources taxed are game meat, timber, palm fruits, and fish. The taxes collected are put into a communal fund. |
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Conflict Resolution Mechanism |
| Not mentioned |
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Problems Faced by Institution |
| 1) Attempts were made by some community leaders eliminate the management system due to their personal economic interests. Although those attempts failed and the leaders were jailed, the management system did not fully recover either the same level of community support or that of implementation. 2) As a consequence of abandoning the vigilance system the community was no longer capable of enforcing most of the norms for fishing in the lakes. Without a system for vigilance and monitoring, the lakes for subsistence use were used once again during the low water season and no control was exerted over the type of nets used in the lakes. There was a noticeable fall in fish stocks due to this. |
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Changes in the Institution over time |
| The first steps towards management of the community lakes in El Chino took place in an autonomous way in 1984. The implementation of this management system for lake fisheries in El Chino has not been a continuous, linear process since its inception in 1984. Rather the community has approached each of the components of this system with a varying degree of commitment and resolve during the past sixteen years resulting in a series of ups and downs for the over all system. The non-linearity of this process is due in part to the fact that the incentives for both the individuals and the group to invest time and effort in the management activities are not constant, but vary from season to season and from year to year. The vigilance system was abandoned completely in 1996. As a consequence the community was no longer capable of enforcing most of the norms for fishing in the lakes. Without a system for vigilance and monitoring, the lakes for subsistence use were used once again during the low water season and no control was exerted over the type of nets used in the lakes. Only the prohibition on the use of toxins and explosives remained in force, for these practices had been totally eradicated. Due to the increase in the activities in the lack of vigilance that were prohibited other wise, there was a noticeable fall in fish stocks. From 1998 a NGO together with personnel from the Ministry of Fisheries are taking effoers to resotre the system back |
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Purpose |
| To regulate the access and use of lake fisheries |
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Country |
| Peru |
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Region |
| The community of El Chino is located along the Tahuayo River within the upper Amazonian floodplain, in northeastern Peru, In a region with no roads, rivers are the main source of communication, transportation and commerce, with the city of Iquitos as the main port. The Tahuayo River runs its total length, more than 80 km, parallel to the Amazon River and within its floodplain, The banks of the Tahuayo River are characterized by low levees that are intensively cultivated during the low water periods and higher levees where the communities are located. The territory of El Chino is composed primarily of a floodplain or varzea ecosystem, characterized by a variety of landscape features, vegetation types, and lakes of diverse origin. |
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