RESILIENCY AND CHANGE IN COMMON PROPERTY REGIMES IN WEST-AFRICA - THECASE OF THE TONGO IN THE GAMBIA, GUINEA, AND SIERRA-LEONE

West African rural communities frequently create rules and conventions to define rights of access and conditions of use to natural resources of great use and exchange value. One such example, the tongo, is all oscillating common property regime that regulates seasonal access to v egetation and wildlife located within village commons and an individua lly appropriated lands in many areas of The Gambia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone. This ensures that a particular resource, such as fruits from d omesticated and wild trees or grasses used for thatch, reach full matu rity before being harvested by the community at large. While it often is concluded that these institutional arrangements are declining, this article adopts a historical perspective in showing that these regimes are much more resilient and flexible than commonly assumed. The autho rs suggest that the tongo is a foundation for working with African ind igenous knowledge and institutions to develop an alternative, yet dist inctly African, approach to resource conservation.