Sustainability and property rights?

["Saithorn Heffron"]

Paul,

You might have a look at Chapter 17: Systems Ecology and Sustainable
Development: Links on Two Levels, by Leon Braat, in the book "Maximum
Power: The Ideas and Applications of H.T. Odum." (1995) ISBN 0-87081-362-5

Included in the referenced chapter is Figure 17.4: "A systems ecological
model for sustainable development analysis."

I think the diagram and the accompanying text will help you immensely in
analyzing and presenting your analysis of the property rights issue
vis-a-vis most of the "big picture" sustainability issues (although the
schematic can be applied to any level of the property rights issue...Earth,
region, country, municipality, community, etc.).

Another good source of information is the "World Resources 2000-2001 Report:
People and Ecosystems: The Fraying Web of Life," by UNDP, UNEP, World Bank,
and WRI (2000) ISBN 1-56973-443-7 ...on the web at WWW.WRI.ORG/WR2000
See for example Box 1.16: Uprooting Communal Tenure in Indonesian Forests."

The Nature Conservancy (WWW.TNC.ORG) and their approach to protecting
biodiversity, etc., by purchasing land--would be worth including in your
thinking about property rights.

There is also good literature out there on the concept of "eminent domain,"
which essentially means that the natural environment should have legal
standing in the same way that you or I do (but more so). "Eminent domain" is
a useful balancing concept to check out relative to the "property rights"
and land tenure point-of-view.

As a precaution, rather than your modeling this yourself, it is suggested
you involve others with diverse backgrounds and perspectives on the issue in
mapping then modeling, keeping it as simple as possible. Naturally you need
to keep in mind the ultimate purpose of this effort and who the intended
audience will be. The more you can involve the end-users in the analysis,
the better (e.g., in a workshop as opposed to only through a written
report).

Good luck,
-Peter Heffron
heffron@hialoha.net

[Khalid Saeed]

Property rights are not enough. Institutions concerned with maintenance of
commons are a key to sustainablility. In instances, decay occurred when
property rights were transferred to peasants while feudal institutions that
previously maintained the common atrophied. A succinct documentation of
action research on this subject is by Akhtar Hamid Khan (Michigan State
Univ). It contains several writings from various action research projects.
Notable among these were conducted in Comilla, Orangi, and Hunza (in
Bangladesh and Pakistan), all reinforcing above proposition.

- Khalid Saeed
From: Khalid Saeed <saeed@WPI.EDU>

_____________________________________
Khalid Saeed
Professor and Department Head
Social Science and Policy Studies
W. P. I., 100 Institute Road
Worcester, MA 01609, USA

Ph: 508-831-5563; fax: 508-831-5896
email: saeed@wpi.edu

SSPS Dept: http://www.wpi.edu/+SSPS

["Mark B. Wallace"]

My belief is that System Dynamics should be very useful here, as
many of the arguments in favor of abrogating, or refusing to
recognize in the first place, property rights, simply ignore
secondary (not to mention tertiary, etc.) effects.

If you arent aware of it already, please see:

"The Noblest Triumph: Property and Prosperity through the Ages"
by Tom Bethell, New York, St. Martins Press, 1998, ISBN: 0-312-
21083-3.

Mark Wallace
From: "Mark B. Wallace" <mark.wallace@verizon.net>

[Paul Martin]

I am something of a neophyte in the use of computer based systems models
(being a trier with Vensim at the lowest level of competence), but have
been actively working on the use of systems thinking in a number of
areas such as strategy development.
I have a research project to which I am committed over the next 18
months, which is to identify
HOW PROPERTY RIGHTS CAN BE USED TO ENHANCE SUSTAINABILITY
Property rights in this context includes all rights to things
including rights to bio-diversity, intellectual and cultural property,
rights to manage, rights to trade and rights to use.
"Sustainability" relates to natural resource management, which of course
means that we are spanning energy, land, air, water, biodiversity (and
possibly cultural or social values ascribed by man).
I AM LOOKING FOR SYSTEM DYNAMICS/SYSTEM THINKING RESOURCES TO ASSIST.
CAN ANYONE HELP?

What I am interested in is any resources that will help me to structure
this enormous problem - they might be models that I can either adopt or
use for inspiration;
- reports or studies
- books or papers
- a good idea
- a person or organisation which is expert in this field.

YOUR ASSISTANCE WILL BE VALUED HIGHLY.
From: Paul Martin <Paul_M@profitfoundation.com.au>

["Bailo"]

I had an extensive discussion last october with Pr. Pascal Salin on how
property rights can help sustainable development. Mr Salin is Professor of
economics and a strong advocate of property rignts.
He has been collecting from longtime, stories like how "privatizing"
elephants helped increase their number in an african state. Privatization
means giving to a village as the property of the villagers a herd of
elephants.
I am very interested by your work and hope to share your findings.
He can be reached : FAX 33 1 44071065.
======================================
Mamadou Traoré
Bureau dAnalyse dIngénierie et de Logiciels
08 BP 533
Abidjan 08
Côte dIvoire
Fax : 22472788
Email bailo@aviso.ci
mdtraore@bailo.net
bailo_mt@yahoo.com