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Governance of natural resources Governance of natural resources: Uncovering the social purpose of materials in nature Edited by Jin Sato © United Nations University, 2013 The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not nec- essarily reflect the views of the United Nations University. United Nations University Press United Nations University, 53–70, Jingumae 5-chome, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150–8925, Japan Tel: +81–3-5467-1212 Fax: +81-3-3406-7345 E-mail: [email protected] General enquiries: [email protected] http://www.unu.edu United Nations University Office at the United Nations, New York 2 United Nations Plaza, Room DC2–2062, New York, NY 10017, USA Tel: +1–212–963–6387 Fax: +1–212–371–9454 E-mail: [email protected] United Nations University Press is the publishing division of the United Nations University. Cover design by Andrew Corbett Printed in the United States of America for the Americas and Asia Printed in the United Kingdom for Europe, Africa and the Middle East ISBN 978-92-808-1228-2 e-ISBN 978-92-808-7197-5 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Governance of natural resources : uncovering the social purpose of materials in nature / edited by Jin Sato. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-9280812282 (pbk.) – ISBN 978-9280871975 (e-book) 1. Natural resources – Government policy. 2. Natural resources – Social aspects. 3. Environmental policy – Social aspects. 4. Sustainable development – Social aspects. 5. Human ecology. I. Sato, Jin, 1968– editor of compilation. II. Sato, Jin, 1968– State inaction in resource governance. HC85.G68 2013 333.7—dc23 2013011204 Endorsements “This book addresses an essential topic in the study of the relations be- tween people and nature: natural resource governance. In contrast to much other work on the topic, it does not take natural resource as given but shows how nature is turned into “natural resources” as part of the very social processes constituting governance. Concepts of nature and definitions of natural resources are just as political as questions about the means (e.g. market-based instruments versus regulation) and levels of governance (e.g. centralized versus decentralized forms). Thus the book achieves to establish crucial connections to research on the social consti- tution of resources in environmental history and science and technology studies. The book advances the critical concept of natural resources as “bundles of possibilities”. It navigates intelligently between the two schools of environmental determinism and the social construction of nature to dem- onstrate how natural resources and governance constitute each other re- cursively. The state, in particular, has often been established historically in close conjunction with the ambition to either exploit or manage natu- ral resources. Yet, as the book rightly argues, natural resource governance goes much beyond the state, and often involves various branches of the state in an uneasy relationship with each other. Disjunctures within the state, between the state and other institutions of governance, and be- tween existing governance arrangements and natural processes make nat- ural resource governance inherently dynamic. v vi Endorsements The book employs this exciting conceptual framework to cover an im- pressive range of conditions in which natural resource governance takes place worldwide, presenting analyses of the transport sector, forests, pro- tected areas, river management, minerals and fisheries from Africa, Asia and Latin America.” Thomas Sikor, Professor of Environment and Development, University of East Anglia, UK “Jin Sato has assembled an excellent collection of case studies and put together an important core argument around the interplay between re- sources and political economy. Using examples from several continents, this book goes beyond the many texts that take the term ‘governance’ for granted. Rather, it both makes and supersedes the important – but well- established – point that resources are not just material facts; rather, mate- rials become resources through human uses and social, economic and political interactions around them. It goes further by showing that re- sources are, in turn, themselves constitutive of power and politics. This is an important contribution to the broad scholarly fields of natural re- source governance and political ecology, and it also has significant mes- sages at the level of policy and practice.” Philip Hirsch, Professor of Human Geography and Director of the Mekong Research Group (AMRC) at the University of Sydney “The industrial age caused humans to forget that all life, and all industry as well, rests on a foundation supplied by natural resources that are not simply discrete portable objects but are functioning parts of whole eco- systems. Humans are slowly, humbly and painfully rediscovering the fact that we cannot outdo nature in providing ourselves with the ecosystem services that are fundamental to all life, including our own. Our simple- minded insistence on segmenting the natural world into different kinds of resources as an organizing tool (and then assigning similarly segmented units of bureaucracy to deal with each piece) actually blinds us to the in- teractive way that whole ecosystems actually operate. Finally, the arro- gance and greed of economic and political elites who assume that their views about ‘resources’ and their highest ‘uses’ are correct has produced conflict with communities who recognize their own dependence on natu- ral systems as well as tremendous resistance among elites to decentraliz- ing decision-making power over the environment. This book tells the story of conflict at this cusp between these old (actually ‘modernist’) views and new recognition of environmental complexity, legal pluralism and democratic decentralization. It demonstrates that this struggle over perceptions, decision-making power and resource wealth takes place every- Endorsements vii where, from ancestral domains in the Philippines to mines in Zambia to dams in Japan. Most importantly, it provides valuable accounts of restora- tive efforts meant to correct the errors of our oversimplified industrial- era vision, efforts from which we can draw hope and inspiration.” Margaret McKean, Professor of Political Science and Research Professor of Environmental Policy, Duke University Contents List of figures and tables. xi List of contributors. xiii Foreword. xv Jesse Ribot Acknowledgements . xx List of abbreviations. xxii Introduction: Towards the dynamic analysis of resources. 1 Jin Sato 1 State inaction in resource governance: Natural resource control and bureaucratic oversight in Thailand. 15 Jin Sato 2 Natural resource governance in Latin America. 42 William Ascher 3 Domestic politics and environmental standards: China’s policy-making process for regulating vehicle emissions . 74 Eri Saikawa x Contents 4 People and business in the appropriation of Cambodia’s forests. 98 Andrew Robert Cock 5 Incomplete mechanisms for conflict resolution: The case of Mt Pulag National Park, Philippines. 120 Masahide Horita and Doreen Allasiw 6 Participation and diluted stakes in river management in Japan: The challenge of alternative constructions of resource governance. 141 Naruhiko Takesada 7 Distribution of mineral resources in Zambia: A longitudinal analysis of the mining community . 162 Michiko Ishisone 8 Post-growth community development and rediscovery of resources: A case of rural regeneration in a Japanese mountain village. 183 Naofumi Suzuki 9 Fishermen’s plantations as a way of resource governance in Japan. 202 Tomohiro Oh Index. 222 List of figures and tables Figures I.1 Distribution of research focus on resource governance. 9 1.1 Organizational structure of Ministry of Interior, circa 1900 . 24 1.2 Parallel departments as of 2002. 31 5.1 Eight NIPAP sites. 123 6.1 Map of Yodo River area. 149 6.2 Development of the River Act . 150 6.3 New process of river management . 151 7.1 Copper production cost per tonne . 173 8.1 Network of workshop-related communication . 192 9.1 Dried fish factories located beside Isso River. 213 9.2 Sun-drying fish, 2006. 213 9.3 Transition of broadleaf tree production from national forest and changes in mackerel catch in Kamiyaku town. 215 Tables 1.1 Sequence of departmental establishment and their mandates 27 2.1 Environmental Regulatory Regime Index. 51 3.1 Vehicle emission standards’ adoption in the European Union and China. 78 3.2 Fuel quality standards’ adoption in the European Union and China. 79 5.1 Overlapping laws and jurisdictions in the Philippines