Yanesha Forest Cooperative, Palcazú valley, central Peru

The Yanesha forest community is located in the Palcazú valley of central Peru. The case study involves a snapshot in time during which the Yanesha Forestry Cooperative (COFYAL) operated in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s. Timber and a variety of forest products are the main stationary resource units.In this case, the forest resources were being extracted for the generation of profits from commercial activities to be distributed to the community members and are not for subsistence activities. The case study focuses on the analysis of the presence or absence and effectiveness of Ostrom’s Design Principles in the action situation as well as the influence of outside actors within the situation. The case study has subsequently been used in comparative analyses regarding Ostrom's Design Principles (see bibliography).