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High altitude rangeland and livelihood systems in Bhutan are undergoing changes in resource availability, population and user rights. This paper explores the existing governance structures of high altitude rangelands in Bhutan using Ostrom’s design principles as a framework for analysis. Qualitative interviews and focus group discussions were used to capture perceptions of 151 herders, sedentary livestock farmers and government officials across three case study sites. The research showed that most high altitude rangelands in the three case study sites have clear boundaries using natural and manmade landmarks along with a list of eligible users (design principle 1). Herders and livestock farmers have developed customary norms and rules to enforce and engender collective choice agreements for governance of high altitude rangeland (design principle 3). Community guards, appointed on rotational basis, guarded communal pastures against infringement (design principle 4). Herders and livestock farmers have developed graduated penalty system (design principle 5) and they were generally able to resolve most conflicts locally however some were resolved through district courts (design principle 6). However, rights to organize (design principle 7) and a nested enterprise approach (design principle 8) did not feature explicitly in local governance discourses and narratives. Incongruence between provision and appropriation activities under existing governance structures of high altitude rangeland in the case study sites, may be attributed to assignment of incomplete property rights (e.g. lack of management rights) in the bundle of rights. The research demonstrated assigning management rights in the bundle of rights and conformance to design principle 2 are inextricably linked, and vital for sustainable governance of high altitude rangeland. One way to institutionalize Ostrom’s design principles into natural resource governance is formalizing and codifying them in the form of a written group constitution and by-laws. The role of government policies, acts and laws that inform and constrain high altitude rangeland management are explored and changes suggested for improving the current governance system of high altitude rangeland in Bhutan.

"The purpose of this paper is to further the understanding of how unequal access to commons is (re)produced and contested. I do so by looking into the thwarted struggle of small-scale fishers in post-war Northern Sri Lanka to contest encroachment of an Indian trawler fleet. I contend that for understanding marginality in the commons we need to make two conceptual shifts in understanding resource access and collective action: one is from access as a bundle of rights to access as a bundle of powers (Ribot and Peluso 2003); and two is from collective action geared at fostering institutions for resource stewardship towards collective action geared at contesting marginalizing access mechanisms. This paper uses this political perspective to explain how Indian trawlers’ superior technology and political agency allow them to illegally operate in Sri Lankan waters, and prevent North Sri Lankan fishers to rebuild a livelihood after decades of war. I subsequently demonstrate that fishers are unable to collectively challenge this status quo due to political repression by the Sri Lankan government, the post-war erosion of fisheries cooperatives, and fishers’ inability to articulate and politicize their Tamil identity. This elusive quest for access and collective action has forced fishers into silent and cynical adaptation to the reality of trawler intrusions. I conclude that struggles for resource access are not only struggles for legitimate property rights, but also about the ability to influence the multiple mechanisms of access through processes of contestatory collective action."

"We draw on empirical results from three case studies of property rights change across forest and fisheries ecosystems in central Vietnam to investigate the circumstances under which collective property rights may make sense. A generic property rights framework was used to examine the bundles of rights and associated rights holders in each case, and to assess these arrangements with regard to their contextual fit, legitimacy and enforceability. The cases illustrate the interactions between private and collective rights to lands and resources, and the trade-offs inherent with different mixes of rights."

"Since the early 1990s, aquaculture has become the most important livelihood activity in Tam Giang Lagoon, Vietnam. The aquaculture boom has reduced the available water area for mobile gear fishers, polarized different user-groups, created resource conflicts, and increased pressures on the lagoon systems. Aquaculture in the lagoon is governed by both customary and legal rights. The objective of this paper is to explore the diversity of resource use and the complexity of property rights in one of the villages located in the lagoon. The paper emphasizes the linkages between changes in commons institutions and changes in resource use and property rights. First, the political and socio-economic changes in Vietnam are examined as well as how they have influenced traditional commons institutions and lagoon resource management in the village. Second, the linkages between common institutions and the diversity of property rights are analyzed. Particular attention is given to the analysis of different types of resource use associated with 'bundle of rights' and the diversity of property rights regimes in the village."