Your search found 53 records
1 Clement, Floriane; Amezaga, J. M.; Orange, Didier; Toan, T. D.; Large, A. R. G.; Calder, I. R. 2006. Reforestation policies and upland allocation in northern Vietnam: an institutional approach for understanding farmer strategies and land use change. Paper presented at the International Symposium, Towards Sustainable Livelihoods and Ecosystems in Mountainous Regions, Chiang Mai, Thailand, 7-9 March 2006. 17p.
(Location: IWMI-HQ Call no: IWMI 333.75 G784 CLE Record No: H039286)
2 Clement, Floriane. 2006. Understanding farmers’ strategies and land use change in the northern uplands of Vietnam. Water Figures Asia: news of IWMI's work in Asia, 1:4-5.
(Location: IWMI-HQ Call no: IWMI 630 G784 CLE Record No: H039287)
http://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/News_Room/Newsletters/Water_Figures/PDFs/WF_ASIA_Issue1.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H039287.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H039287.pdf
3 Clement, Floriane; Amezaga, Jaime M.; Orange, Didier; Toan, Tran Duc. 2007. The impact of government policies on land use in northern Vietnam: an institutional approach for understanding farmer decisions. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute (IWMI). 21p. (IWMI Research Report 112) [doi: https://doi.org/10.3910/2009.112]
Land use ; Public policy ; Reforestation ; Farmers ; Decision making ; Land management ; Shifting cultivation ; Villages / Vietnam
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: IWMI 333.7313 G784 CLE Record No: H040277)
(881KB)
This report identifies the driving forces for reforestation in three villages of Northern Vietnam. Using an institutional analysis focused on the rules governing upland access and use, the authors assess the relative impact of state policies (reforestation programs and forestland allocation) on land use change. Findings show that the latter are indirectly responsible for reforestation, but not because of the incentives they provided. Instead, they disrupted the local rules governing annual crop cultivation and grazing activities leading to the end of annual cropping. Tree plantation was chosen by farmers as a last resort option. Lessons learned highlight the importance of local level studies and collective rules for land management.
4 Orange, Didier; Bardouin, L.; Nguyen, D. P.; Loiseau, J. B.; Clement, Floriane; Jouquet, Pascal. 2007. Le concept de PES pour une gestion durable des eaux et des sols: application au developpement de l’elevage et au controle environnemental dans le Nord Vietnam. In French. Gestion integree des eaux et des sols : ressources, amenagements et risques en milieux ruraux et urbains, Editions AUF et IRD, Hanoi, Actes des Premieres Journees Scientifiques Inter- Reseaux de l’AUF, Hanoi, 6-9 novembre 2007; Paper presented at Conference, Integrated Management of Waters and Soils: resources, infrastructures and risks in rural and urban areas, Hanoi, Vietnam, 6-9 November 2007. 8p.
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: 333.91 G784 ORA Record No: H040808)
In Northern Vietnam, the urgent environmental problems are soil erosion under annual crop on sloping lands leading to a drastic soil fertility decrease, inducing the risk to unfertilize the flatlands and to fill up the water reservoirs in the downstream part by sediment accumulation. Then a lack of disposable income for the purchase of inorganic fertilizers has resulted in farmers in Northern Vietnam resorting to the utilization of raw animal and human waste in order to fertilizer their cropping systems. This project is dealing at the District level in the Northward of Hoa Binh Province with the PES use (agro-ecological concept of Payment for Environmental Services) based on a new market opportunity for the farmers of Northern Vietnam to mobilise the integrated cattle husbandry enhancement and water management between uplands and lowlands. The purpose is to create a sustainable loop between fodder cropping on sloping lands, the cattle development under stables, the animal and human waste management, leading to human health and water quality protections, to the erosion sediment control for both a sustainable upland and lowland use. The proposed project offers a novel approach in that a holistic approach is introduced to achieve income generation from livestock manure management in mountainous environment of Southeast Asia in establishing a process of comprehensive assessment, of mutual learning between farmers from upper part and down part of the watershed through a hydrological modelling platform, and by the development of new agricultural technologies as biogas digester and vermicompost unit.
5 Clement, Floriane; Amezaga, J. M. 2008. Linking reforestation policies with land use change in northern Vietnam: why local factors matter. Geoforum, 39: 265-277.
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: IWMI 333 G784 CLE Record No: H040815)
In many countries worldwide, similar state policies on land management have been implemented as a response to deforestation in mountainous areas. So far, few studies have examined to which extent these policies have actually contributed to reforestation. This is the focus of our analysis, based on a case study in Vietnam. Because land access and land use were traditionally governed by common rules, we examine land use changes from an institutional perspective. We use the Institutional Analysis and Development IAD) framework, coupled with an historical perspective and the analysis of actors’ perception and dominant narratives on land management and forests. Results show that national policies significantly interfered with local factors, leading to a complex course of decision-making and action. Substantial reforestation in the area was not a response by farmers to policy incentives but rather the unexpected outcome of the disruption of local institutions by these policies. We argue that, because national interventions have relied on false or exaggerated narratives and beliefs, their implementation is in conflict with the local reality in upland areas, leading to unpredictable and locally dependent outcomes. We defend hence the need for local level studies and also recommend considering local institutions for land use change analysis in contexts where land use systems are characterised by a high degree of human interaction.
6 Clement, Floriane; Amezaga, J. M.; Orange, Didier; Calder, I. R. C.; Large, A. R. G. 2007. A multi-level approach to analyse the impact of forestland allocation on land management in Northern Vietnam. Poster presented at the RECOFTC Conference on “Poverty Reduction and Forests: Tenure, Market and Policy Reforms”, Bangkok, Thailand, 3-7 September 2007. 11p.
Land management ; Land use ; Land tenure ; Community forestry ; Households / Vietnam / Hoa Binh Province / So La / Thai Nguyen / Yen Bai
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: IWMI 333.75 G784 CLE Record No: H040806)
Many Asian countries have recently devolved land use rights to households and communities. Often largely supported by donors and non-governmental international organizations, the success of these initiatives in improving livelihoods and forest or land management has been challenged by an increasing number of scholars for the last few years. Based on the case study of the Northern uplands of Vietnam, this paper investigates why forestland allocation has hardly achieved its intended objectives regarding land use and management. Results suggest that the gaps between stated intentions and outcomes result from inappropriate institutions and erroneous beliefs often linked with the economic and political context. We encourage the adoption of a similar multi-level framework focusing on actors’ incentives and beliefs to understand policy discrepancies and better guide future policies.
7 Orange, Didier; Toan, Tran Duc; Salgado, P.; Phuong, N. D.; Van Thiet, N.; Clement, Floriane; Binh, L. H. 2008. Different interests, common concerns and shared benefits. LEISA Magazine, 24(2):12-13.
Soil management ; Erosion ; Control methods ; Villages ; Land management ; Sloping land ; Decision making ; Farmer participation ; Farming systems ; Crop production ; Fodder ; Development projects / Vietnam / Hoa Binh Province
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: IWMI 631.45 G784 ORA Record No: H041495)
http://www.leisa.info/index.php?url=getblob.php&o_id=209097&a_id=211&a_seq=0
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H041495.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H041495.pdf
Getting farmers to adopt new technologies to address soil erosion and fertility problems is not easy. In Vietnam, a multidisciplinary research project to improve soil management in traditional mountainous agricultural farming systems managed to attract farmers’ interest and stop soil erosion. This success stems from encouraging farmers, extensionists and researchers to jointly define and implement the project. Their different aims could be followed simultaneously: scientific results for researchers, better agricultural practice for extension workers, and economic success and free choice for farmers.
8 Clement, Floriane; Amezaga, J. M.; Orange, Didier; Calder I. R.; Large, A. R. G.; Toan, T. D. 2008. Linking reforestation with forest policies: a multi-scale and interdisciplinary methodology applied to Vietnam. Paper prepared for the 12th Biennial Conference of the IASC, Cheltenham, UK, 14-18 July 2008. 29p.
Reforestation ; Forest policy ; Land management ; Land use ; Common property ; Natural resources management ; Corporate culture ; Decision making ; Governance / Vietnam
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: IWMI 333.75 G784 CLE Record No: H041546)
http://dlc.dlib.indiana.edu/archive/00003768/01/Clement_108301.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H041546.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H041546.pdf
9 Clement, Floriane; Amezagab, J. M. 2009. Afforestation and forestry land allocation in northern Vietnam: analysing the gap between policy intentions and outcomes. Land Use Policy, 26:458-470.
Afforestation ; Forest policy ; Forestry ; Land use ; Legal aspects ; Decision making ; Land classification ; Land management / Vietnam
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H041988)
(0.82 MB)
10 Clement, Floriane; Orange, Didier; Williams, M.; Mulley, C.; Epprecht, M. 2009. Drivers of afforestation in northern Vietnam: assessing local variations using geographically weighted regression. Applied Geography, 29:561-576. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeog.2009.01.003]
Afforestation ; Forest cover ; Assessment ; Remote sensing ; Regression analysis ; Models ; Forest policy ; Land use ; Households / Vietnam / Hoa Binh Province
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H042315)
(0.86 MB)
This article identifies drivers of forest transition in a province of Northern Vietnam between 1993 and 2000 by applying geographically weighted regression (GWR) analysis to remotely sensed and statistical data. The regression model highlighted the spatial variation of the relationship between the percentage of land afforested and its proximate causes. Factors identified as having a major impact on afforestation are: the presence or proximity of a wood-processing industry, the distance to highways, and land allocation to households. Whereas the two former variables are in most areas of the province positively correlated with afforestation, an unexpected negative correlation was observed for the latter. The analysis of these results, supported by an in-depth knowledge of the area and of the political context, leads to the conclusion that, during the time period considered, afforestation was largely driven by state organisations on protected state-owned land, and forestry was not a significant component of household economic activities.
11 Clement, Floriane. 2010. Analysing decentralised natural resource governance: proposition for a “politicised” institutional analysis and development framework. Policy Sciences, 43(2):129-156. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11077-009-9100-8]
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H034817)
(0.54 MB)
There has often been a gap between policy intentions and outcomes in the field of natural resource governance. Analysing the factors for these discrepancies requires multi-level approaches that relate policy decisions formulated at the national and international level with the decisions of local resource users. A key asset of the Institutional Analysis and Development framework is precisely its ability to link multiple governance levels. Yet most commons literature has been limited to the study of collective action among local communities without considering higher institutional and government levels. To overcome this limitation, I posit for a methodological development of the framework, which bridges the gap between institutional analysis, power-centred and historical approaches, and discourse analysis. The application of the extended framework to the study of state afforestation policies in Vietnam highlights the need to simultaneously consider institutions, the politico-economic context and discourses across governance and government levels. As illustrated in this paper, such a framework does not only facilitate the analysis of policy shortcomings but also supports the design and dissemination of policy recommendations.
12 Clement, Floriane; Amezaga, J. M. 2009. The importance of context for pro-poor institutional change: the case of land-tenure reforms in Vietnam’s uplands. Paper presented at the Conference on Institutions, Behavior and the Escape from Persistent Poverty, Cornell University, NY, USA, 16-17 November 2009. 47p.
Institutions ; Land tenure ; Land management ; Land policies ; Legal aspects ; History ; Poverty ; Forest land ; Households / South East Asia / Vietnam
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H042528)
http://www.socialsciences.cornell.edu/0811/papers/ClementAmezaga.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H042528.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H042528.pdf
(0.54 MB)
Rural development debates have largely focused on identifying which natural resource institutions can best contribute to poverty alleviation. We argue that it is equally important to understand under which context a given set of institutions can contribute to reduce poverty. The argument is applied to the case of post-collectivization land reforms in Vietnam. We discuss the role of context in policy shortcomings by analyzing simultaneously the fit between institutions and local contextual factors and the influence of the broader discursive and political-economic context under which policy changes operate.
13 Clement, Floriane. 2009. Analysing the outcomes of forest policies in northern Vietnam: the role of policy design. Draft paper. Paper presented at the 2009 Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers, Las Vegas, NV, USA, 22-27 March 2009. 14p.
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H042677)
(0.20 MB)
Recent large-scale afforestation programmes in Vietnam have had a mixed success. Official statistics report a forest cover increase, but the programmes' contribution to poverty reduction has been limited and their actual benefits to the environment are questionable.I discuss in this paper to which extent policy design has contributed to these shortcomings. I focused on two state initiatives - a large national afforestation campaign, called the Five Million Hectare Reforestation Programme, and the recent allocation of upland to communities. I combined institutional and discourse analysis to assess how incentives, rules and discourses in the policy-making arena have affected outcomes on the ground. I also examined the role of evidence and the factors that have supported policy change.Findings highlight that policy flaws largely result from the characteristics of the policy-making arena at the central level. Discourses have played a significant role in the way they have shaped problem definition and beliefs. Black boxes have provided a means to neatly accommodate the diverse interests of policy-makers under consensus-based governance. I argue that revising policies might not result in improved outcomes as long as simplistic and biased narratives prevail. I conclude with a set of recommendations to bridge the gap between research and policy.
14 Orange, Didier; Henry des Tureaux, Thierry; Phan Ha, H. A.; Clement, Floriane; Jouquet, Pascal; Van Dinh, P.; Van Thiet, N.; Nguyen, D. P.; Toan, T. D. 2008. Duras Program, CropLivestock Project, IRD-Vietnam component: final technical - scientific report. IRD-IWMI, MSEC (Management for Soil Erosion Consortium) Team, SFRI (Soils and Fertilisers Research Institute), Hanoi, Vietnam. 11p.
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H043031)
(0.44 MB)
Part 1: Identification of spontaneous innovative practices through local community-based knowledge; Part 2: Environmental impact of fodder crop on sloping lands.
15 Clement, Floriane; Haileslassie, A.; Ishaq, Saba; Blummel, M.; Murty, M. V. R.; Samad, Madar; Dey, S.; Das, H.; Khan, M. A. 2011. Enhancing water productivity for poverty alleviation: role of capitals and institutions in the Ganga Basin. Experimental Agriculture, 47(Supplement S1):133-151. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0014479710000827]
River basins ; Water productivity ; Farming systems ; Crop production ; Livestock ; Farmers ; Landlessness ; Poverty ; Case studies ; Irrigated farming / India / Ganga River Basin / Bankura District / Hisar / Basra Village / Chatinbaid Village / Jhagradihi Village / Lakhipur Village / Udaypur Village
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H043506)
(0.30 MB)
The concept of water productivity (WP) or ‘more crop per drop’ has been revived recently in international water debates. Its application has notably been extended from single crops to mixed farming systems, integrating both crops and livestock, with the wider objective of reducing poverty. Using evidence from the Ganga Basin, India, we discuss the relevance of this concept as a tool to guide interventions for livelihood improvement and poverty alleviation. We argue that WP studies would benefit from greater attention to the role of capitals, inequities and institutions. Firstly, it is crucial to acknowledge the heterogeneity of capitals and capabilities of farmers to make changes in their farming systems and practices and avoid one-fix-all interventions. Identifying pre-existing inequities in water access within and among communities will support better targeting of poor communities. WP interventions can either reinforce or reduce inter-household inequities within communities. We stress the need for assessment of institutional impacts of WP interventions on water access and development.
16 Haileslassie, A.; Blummel, M.; Clement, Floriane; Descheemaeker, Katrien; Amede, Tilahun; Samireddypalle, A.; Acharya, N. Sreedhar; Radha, A. Venkata; Ishaq, Saba; Samad, Madar; Murty, M. V. R.; Khan, M. A. 2011. Assessment of the livestock-feed and water nexus across a mixed crop-livestock system's intensification gradient: an example from the Indo-Ganga Basin. Experimental Agriculture, 47(Supplement S1):113-132. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0014479710000815]
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H043518)
(0.35 MB)
Projections suggest that annual per capita water availability in the Indo-Ganga Basin (IGB) will reduce to a level typical for water-stressed areas. Producing more crop and livestock products, per unit of agricultural water invested, is advocated as a key strategy for future food production and environmental security in the basin. The objective of this study was to understand the spatio-temporal dynamics of water requirements for livestock feed production, attendant livestock water productivity (LWP) and implications for the future sustainable use of water resources. We focused on three districts in the IGB representing intensive (higher external inputs, e.g. fertilizer, water) and semi-intensive (limited external input) crop-livestock systems. LWP is estimated based on principles of water accounting and is defined as the ratio of livestock beneficial outputs and services to the water depleted and degraded in producing these. In calculating LWP and crop water productivity (CWP), livestock, land use, land productivity and climatic data were required. We used secondary data sources from the study districts, field observations and discussions with key informants to generate those data sets. Our result showed that the volume of water depleted for livestock feed production varied among the study systems and was highly affected by the type of feed and the attendant agronomic factors (e.g. cropping pattern, yield). LWP value was higher for intensive systems and affected by agricultural water partitioning approaches (harvest index, metaolizable energy). LWP tended to decrease between 1992 and 2003. This can be accounted for by the shift to a feeding regime that depletes more water despite its positive impacts on animal productivity. This is a challenging trend with the advent of and advocacy for producing more agricultural products using the same or lower volume of water input and evokes a need for balanced feeding, by considering the nutritive value, costs and water productivity of feed, and better livestock management to improve LWP.
17 Clement, Floriane; Ishaq, Saba; Samad, Madar; Acharya, N. Sreedhar; Radha, A. Venkata; Haileslassie, A.; Blummel, M.; Dey, A.; Khan, M. A.; Shindey, D. N.; Mit, R. 2010. Improving water productivity, reducing poverty and enhancing equity in mixed crop-livestock systems in the Indo-Gangetic Basin: CPWF project report 68. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute (IWMI). 103p.
Farming systems ; Mixed farming ; Water productivity ; Feed production ; Livestock ; Energy consumption ; Gender ; Poverty ; River basins ; Case studies / India / Indo-Gangetic Basin / West Bengal / Haryana / Uttar Pradesh
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H043549)
(1MB)
This CGIAR-CPWF Project was designed and conducted by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), in partnership with international and national partners, to address the relative neglect of livestock water needs of crop-livestock farming systems. The primary objective of this project was to optimize the productive use of water in the crop-livestock farming systems of semi-arid areas to enhance livelihoods, reduce poverty, contribute to gender equity, and protect the environment. This was addressed through an integrated approach led by a multi-disciplinary team across three States of the Ganga Basin.
18 Venot, Jean-Philippe; Clement, Floriane. 2010. Assessing the environmental justice of water projects and reforms in the rural south: a co-exploration of institutions and myths. [Abstract only]. Paper presented at the Workshop on Global Environmental Justice: Towards a New Agenda?, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK, 2-3 July 2010. 2p.
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H043580)
(0.11 MB)
Water development projects punctuate the landscapes of the rural South where water sector reforms are endlessly pursued. On the one hand, these new projects and reforms emerge on the ground that they enhance rural livelihoods and are central for food production and sound use of natural resources. On the other hand, the social and environmental inequalities they can induce are often not properly anticipated or recognized. When acknowledged, these effects are attributed to shortcomings in implementation; the remedy is said to be further reforms and projects. In this way, water projects have locked themselves into a ‘business as usual’ approach, which we argue is unlikely to succeed in delivering equitable water access and control. We do so by investigating the links between procedural (which say do water users have in water development projects?) and distributive justice (how are the benefits distributed?), based on case studies of large irrigation infrastructures in Western India and small reservoirs in West Africa and Eastern India. We draw from the fields of political ecology, development and governance studies and combine institutional and discourse analysis to understand the realities of water projects and their environmental justice dimension. We defend that water projects are grounded in environmental and development narratives that are co-produced by science and policy. Those narratives wield notions of sustainability and justice as universal, hence ‘black-boxing” the realities of water resources management. Crucially, and in contrast with the new vocabulary of development, they continue to regard intended beneficiaries as ‘recipients’ rather than actors with agency. Water projects induce new and multiple claims over resources thus influencing the distribution of goods and bads and related perceptions of justice. Global environmental justice discourses need to recognize that the fairness of any intervention is shaped by, and depends on, the vantage point considered to effectively address current issues of inequality.
19 Haileslassie, A.; Blummel, M.; Clement, Floriane; Ishaq, Saba; Khan, M. A. 2011. Adapting livestock water productivity to climate change. International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management, 3(2):156-169. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/17568691111128995]
Water productivity ; Livestock ; Milk production ; Climate change ; Water supply ; Farming systems ; Dairy farms ; River basins / India / Indo-Ganga River Basin
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H044339)
(0.83 MB)
Purpose – The main purposes of this paper were to assess effects of smallholder farmers access to livelihood capital (e.g. land, livestock and water) on livestock water productivity (LWP) and to evaluate impacts of selected interventions in reducing livestock water demand (per unit of livestock product) and therefore increasing LWP. Design/methodology/approach – A total of 203 sample farm households were selected in intensive and semi-intensive crop-livestock systems of Indo-Ganga basin of India. A household survey was undertaken to capture data on land, water and livestock management. For the analysis, sample farms were clustered into poor, medium, better-off. LWP is estimated as a ratio of livestock beneficial-outputs (e.g. milk) to depleted-water (i.e. evapotranspired water to produce livestock feed). Impacts of selected interventions, on LWP, were analyzed using scenarios developed on a spread sheet model. Findings – The results showed different LWP values among farm-clusters and levels of intensification. The intensive systems showed higher LWP than the semi-intensive. In the baseline, dairy water demand to produce a liter of milk was higher than the world average: ranging between 1,000 and 29,000 L. Among the farm-clusters, variation of LWP was system specific and affected by farmers’ access to virtual water trading (i.e. milk and feed). Improving milk productivity, feed quality and feed water productivity reduced livestock water demand per liter of milk substantially and, therefore, the saved water can be used to augment ecosystem services that can mitigate the impacts of climate change. Originality/value – This paper revealed that in the study systems LWP, in the business as usual scenario, is low. But by improving animal productivity, quality feed supply and water conservation substantial volume of water can be saved.
20 Clement, Floriane. 2011. Comment on Ostrom and Cox paper: “Moving beyond panaceas: a multitiered diagnostic approach for social-ecological analysis” - looking beyond the right institutional fit. Paper presented at the International Conference for Environmental Future (ICEF), Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK, 18-22 July 2011. 6p.
Natural resources management ; Policy ; Social aspects ; Corporate culture ; Political aspects ; Economic aspects
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H044340)
(0.09 MB)
Ostrom and Cox review why panacea problems have dominated and misguided natural resource management policies. They propose a framework researchers can use as a diagnostic approach to study social-ecological systems (SES). More than a methodological tool, the SES framework also aims at offering a common language to bridge the disciplinary divide between natural and social sciences. Based on literature review and personal experience, I argue that the features of the framework adequately address the panacea trap to some extent and notably facilitate large N comparative research, as testify newly gained insights into the role of property rights for sustainable forest management. However, the framework could benefit from critical discourse analysis and a more politicised approach to institutional design. First, power and discourses have been neglected as causal conditions. Yet these variables can play a substantial role by influencing actors’ behaviour and by shaping, legitimising and giving meaning to institutions. Second, because institutional design largely depends on how socialecological problems are framed, it is important that a common language does not close debates but recognises the multiple perceptions of the reality and the distinct meanings a single term might convey. Lastly, panaceas do not necessarily result from poor science but also often respond to political and economic interests, which are only distantly considered in the framework. Overcoming panaceas therefore requires researchers to engage with other stakeholders in an argumentative space that has fair and inclusive rules for policy deliberation. To conclude, finding the right ‘institutional fit’ is desirable but might not be sufficient. Ostrom and Cox review the history of panacea problems, defined as ‘overly simplified institutional prescriptions’ (p.1), in environmental management and conservation. They highlight three major reasons why panaceas have persisted in the history of natural resource management: one is the disciplinary divide between social and natural scientists; the second is the limited set of methods used by social scientists; lastly, scientists have often narrowly focused on a single scale and level of analysis. Those limitations have contributed to partial and flawed understandings of complex social-ecological systems (SES) and ultimately resulted in simplified and inaccurate theories and models. Ostrom and Cox propose an analytical framework to provide a common language across disciplines and support a fine and rigorous analysis of how the interactions of a variety of factors affect outcomes at multiple levels. Their SES framework includes a set of first-tier variables which are sufficiently broad for the framework to be applied to a wide variety of contexts. Those variables are decomposable into sub-variables, thereby offering high analytical clarity and precision. Grounded on almost two decades of observations and findings collected from case studies, lab experiments and games in different settings, it is a remarkable endeavour to capture and categorise the complexity and diversity of human-environment interactions. Furthermore, it offers an appropriate tool to conduct large-N comparative studies. In this respect, the IFRI initiative2 has offered important lessons with implications for policy-making. For instance, the type of property rights alone appears not to make a real difference in the protection of forest resources.
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