Beyond Ostrom: Randomized experiment of the impact of individualized tree rights on forest management in Ethiopia.

• This study conducted a randomized experiment to change property systems in Ethiopia. • The study examined the management efforts of the mixed management system. • The intervention stimulated intensive management (pruning, guarding, and watering). • The treated members extracted more timber and forest products than non-treated ones. • The extraction of nontimber products unrelated to tree management did not change. We argue that while community forest management is effective in protecting forest resources, as argued by Ostrom, such management may fail to provide the proper incentives to nurture such resources because the benefits of forest management are collectively shared. This study proposes a mixed private and community management system characterized by communal protection of community-owned forest areas and individual management of individually owned trees as a desirable arrangement for timber forest management in developing countries. By conducting a randomized experiment in Ethiopia, we found that the mixed management system significantly stimulated intensive forest management activities, including pruning, guarding, and watering. Furthermore, more timber trees and forest products were extracted from the treated areas, which are byproducts of tree management (e.g., thinned trees and pruned branches). In contrast, the extracted volumes of non-timber forest products unrelated to tree management (fodder and honey) did not change with the intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]