Donor-initiated common pool resource institutions: the case of the Yanesha Forestry Cooperative

Several authors have drawn on case studies of successful common pool resource (CPR) institutions to develop principles for predicting when a CPR regime will form and the likelihood of its success once created (Ostrom, 1990). This paper examines the development and dissolution of the Yanesha Forestry Cooperative in the Palcazu Valley of Peru to test the relevance of Ostrom's CPR design principles to indigenous forest management regimes involving donor assistance and other external influences. The paper expands several principles and suggests ways in which external agencies can assist more effectively in the development of durable common pool resource institutions.