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Mechanisms of Weak Governance in Grasslands and Wetlands of South America

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  • Luca Eufemia

    (Sustainable Land Use in Developing Countries (SusLAND), Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), Eberswalder Straße 84, 15374 Müncheberg, Germany
    Department of Agricultural Sciences, Humboldt University of Berlin (HU), Invalidenstraße 42, 10099 Berlin, Germany)

  • Michelle Bonatti

    (Sustainable Land Use in Developing Countries (SusLAND), Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), Eberswalder Straße 84, 15374 Müncheberg, Germany
    Department of Agricultural Sciences, Humboldt University of Berlin (HU), Invalidenstraße 42, 10099 Berlin, Germany)

  • Stefan Sieber

    (Sustainable Land Use in Developing Countries (SusLAND), Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), Eberswalder Straße 84, 15374 Müncheberg, Germany
    Department of Agricultural Sciences, Humboldt University of Berlin (HU), Invalidenstraße 42, 10099 Berlin, Germany)

  • Barbara Schröter

    (Sustainable Land Use in Developing Countries (SusLAND), Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), Eberswalder Straße 84, 15374 Müncheberg, Germany)

  • Marcos A. Lana

    (Department of Crop Production Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Almas Allé 8, 750 07 Uppsala, Sweden)

Abstract

Weak governance is a major threat to sustainable development, especially in rural contexts and within ecosystems of great social and economic value. To understand and compare its arrangement in the grasslands and wetlands of the Colombian Llanos and the Paraguayan Pantanal, we build upon the Institutional and Development Framework (IAD) as we explore the role of political, economic, and social institutions and combine components of the theory of common-pool resources (CPR) and new institutional economics (NIE). This hybrid conceptualization provides a synthesis of how top-down hierarchical and market-based systems of community-based and natural resource management negatively affect sustainable development in both study areas. Our findings suggest three underlying mechanisms causing a situation of weak governance: centralized (economic and political) power, the role of central and local governments, and social exclusion. Understanding these multidimensional contextual mechanisms improves the understanding that institutional structures supporting arrangements that handle grasslands and wetlands in a sustainable way are needed to protect the ecosystem’s social and economic values, especially in rural and marginalized contexts.

Suggested Citation

  • Luca Eufemia & Michelle Bonatti & Stefan Sieber & Barbara Schröter & Marcos A. Lana, 2020. "Mechanisms of Weak Governance in Grasslands and Wetlands of South America," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-23, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:17:p:7214-:d:408388
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    2. James Natia Adam & Timothy Adams & Jean-David Gerber & Tobias Haller, 2021. "Decentralization for Increased Sustainability in Natural Resource Management? Two Cautionary Cases from Ghana," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-23, June.

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