Property rights and the utilisation of wetlands

This paper argues that successful conservation of wetlands is fundamentally determined by the institutions and property rights associated with resourc e management decisions. Thus an understanding of property rights regimes, t he constraints which they impose on users of wetlands resources, and the di stribution of benefits of use among users and non-users are essential if th e economic values of wetland ecosystems and functions are to be realised. W e outline relevant theoretical perspectives on property rights and the sust ainable utilisation of natural resources. We argue that wetland resources t end to have unique property rights regimes due to their ecological characte ristics, namely, their multiple-resource characteristics, the indivisible n ature of these resources, and the seasonal and cyclical nature of different wetland resource components. Case studies of property rights regimes in In donesia and Vietnam are presented. These show that wetland resources are of ten managed as common pool resources, and that state appropriation of resou rces or the imposition of private property rights can contribute to unsusta inable utilisation or conversion of wetlands to other uses. (C) 2000 Elsevi er Science B.V. All rights reserved.