Participatory Protection in Theory and Application: Paper Tigers, Fences & Fines, or Negotiated Co-Management?

Forest protection can involve limits on local communities (“fences and fines”), yet some attempts to form protected areas that block local land use are fruitless (“paper tigers”). Participation, i.e., involving communities in forest management (or “co-management”), is a relatively recent innovation in protection which falls between these two endpoints. This working paper models the emergence of negotiated agreements that can share management of and benefits from forest between actors with different objectives, i.e., state and forest user. This paper has been updated on September 7, 2010.

Author(s): Stefanie Engel, Charles Palmer, and Alexander Pfaff

Published: August 2010

download: working paper (.pdf) >