Resource Sustainability Through the Institutions of the Commons. The case of Chile's Semi-arid Norte Chico

Abstract

Although marginal, natural resources managed under the commons exist everywhere, as a land management solution, the discussion about the commons has even significance for resources whose ecological balance concern all of us. Does communal land management constitute a more problematic solution for the environment and social reproduction than private ownership? The empirical evidence suggets a negative answer. This paper presents and discuss a variation of the commons ce the communal land ownership of the 200 agricultural communities of Chile's semi-arid Norte Chico ceboth in relation to other examples of commons and to private property. Situated between the Atacama desert and the Central Valley, the Norte Chico constitutes a fragile ecological area, presenting a dilemma as poverty threatens these common managed communities. In the Latin-American discussion, it is usually argued that communal land arises in marginal and mountainous ecological zones, and therefore in lands that are not in the landowners' interest. Although the majority of the communities managed under the commons are situated in a semi-mountainous environment, they are also found in fertile land areas, contradicting this way the former view. The commons are furthermore often reduced to the small peasantry. Differentiating the commons from private property, the study suggests that the commons are an institution of its own, which in Chile shares the same historical origin in colonial land grants as private property. Since the agricultural communities have kept their territorial integrity permanently undivided, the study suggests that they have developed as a permanent land management solution to avoid land fragmentation.