Watershed management, Thung Kao Hang, Lamphun province, northern Thailand (IV)

Resource System
Watershed and associated topography
Resource Units
Forest products

This paper examines four case studies of community-based watershed management with emphasis on their operational decision-making arrangements. Even though legally the watersheds are state property, 73% of the villagers consider them communal property. All the case studies established community-based regimes as a result of a declining resource abundance, but differ in their operational rules, administration, effectiveness, and satisfaction among stakeholders. A village located in one of the watersheds is Thung Kao Hang in Lamphun province in northern Thailand. In general, the comparative analysis concludes that smaller watersheds close to the communities with clearly demarcated boundaries and fewer users and with high individual involvement in decision making are more robust.

This case was part of a study to determine whether the institutional design principles of Ostrom where, in fact, related to "governance success" by Cox et al.  In that analysis, this case was classified as a success/failure (to be supplemented).