The Role Played by Traditional Institutions in the Governance of Communal Shared Resources

For sustainable development, institutions, especially at local level, are important for mobilizing resources and regulating their use with a view to maintaining a long-term base for productive activity. Sustainable use of natural resources such as rangelands is conditioned by the strength
of local institutions to involve the user of that resource in its rational management because communities structure their activities and interactions with the environment in their quest to eke a living out of available resources. Structures such as households, kin groups, hamlets
and villages, local institutions are the main actors through which local communities are organized to realize diverse community aspirations. They are highly path-dependent, dynamic and develop with society according to needs. They may last for a long time, accomplish their objectives, fade out, or transform to capitalize on emerging opportunities...
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