Co-Management of Natural Resources in Developing Countries: the Importance of Context

This article analyses the implementation of co-management in developing countries twenty years after its introduction. Using the IAD framework, we highlight the fact that the context in which co-management projects take place significantly influences their effectiveness. In a context of tension between the inertia of developing countries and the pressure exerted by international organisations, the dominant model of interaction between central government and local communities is based on rent-seeking. This dominant model does not allow co-management projects to develop under ideal conditions, and in the end this affects how they work, and compromises the effectiveness of projects for the conservation of natural resources. Under these conditions, it appears to be essential to review the nature of the partnership between funding organisations and developing countries, which remains strongly centralised.