FYI, interesting brief from the World Resources Institute (authored by former WRI staffer Jesse Ribot). It includes case studies from Benin, Brazil, India, Indonesia, Malawi and Senegal.
Rich -----Original Message----- From: Arisha Ashraf [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, December 10, 2008 5:15 PM To: Wallace, Richard Subject: New Policy Brief: Democracy through Natural Resource Decentralization I wanted to share the World Resources Institute's latest work on how natural resource management can strengthen and improve local democracy (this is also Jesse Ribot's last WRI publication-for the time being). Decentralizing natural resource decisions can give local elected governments the opportunity to make decisions that are meaningful to local people's everyday subsistence and commercial activities. This, in turn, gives people good reason to engage their representative authorities. The result is an empowered local government with natural resource management responsibilities that can be responsive to local needs and aspirations. "Building Local Democracy through Natural Resources Interventions: An Environmentalist's Responsibility" is a World Resources Institute policy brief that outlines how environmental activists, professionals and policy makers can help promote the emergence and consolidation of local democracy wherever they intervene. It also points out that they are likely to undermine democracy if they do not take measures to actively support representative authorities. The brief is available at: http://www.wri.org/publication/building-local-democracy. Environmentalists can contribute to the cycle of local democracy by working with elected authorities and supporting their ability to respond to citizen demands. Or, environmentalists can choose to circumvent local democracy by working through the most convenient parallel local institutions to get their projects implemented. While working with democratic institutions can be messy and slow, it has the potential to be the foundation for a permanent (e.g. sustainable) institutional base for community participation that environmentalists around the world strive for. Please address your comments on this brief to Jesse Ribot at [EMAIL PROTECTED] If you would like hard copies, feel free to contact me directly, Arisha Ashraf at [EMAIL PROTECTED]
