Devolution of resource rights, poverty, and natural resource management: a review

Over the last several years, the rights of local communities over natural resources have been strengthened either through power-sharing agreements with the state, increased legal access to natural resources, or decentralization within national agencies. Understanding the impacts of these institutional changes is important both for governments and other stakeholders. This paper focuses on four questions: (1) What is the scope and scale of decentralized natural resource management in different resource sectors? (2) What do we understand about the impacts of devolution, in terms of poverty reduction, resource conservation, and financial implications for governments and local agencies? (3) What are some conditions that contribute to success? (4) What does the future hold for decentralized resource management; that is, what are some emerging challenges? These questions are addressed in relation to three communal resource-management activities-community-based wildlife management, irrigation management transfer, and community forestry.