Property Rights and Sustainable Natural Resource Management

This paper reviews recent research articles in the field of property rights and natural resources management, with the goal of identifying the most effective policy measures to achieve sustainable resource management through well designed property rights. Scarcity of economic resources is a major cause of conflict in human society. Institutions impact the resilience of the environment, and the institutions which guide humans as they employ resources from the environment are therefore essential to sustainable resource management. Institutions which create and enforce property rights can control resource degradation and improve both economic and ecological efficiency. Property rights which lead to an equitable allocation of natural resources and delegation of management authority among stakeholders is the most likely pathway to sustainable ecosystem management. However, there is a lack of consensus regarding the best system of property rights to achieve sustainability. The ‘best system’ is contextual and spatiotemporal dynamic.