Linking Property Rights with Environmental Changes: The case of Nurerri and Jubho Lagoons, PakistanLinking Property Rights with Environmental Changes: The case of Nurerri and Jubho Lagoons, Pakistan

Abstract

Coastal lagoons play a vital role in supporting human well-being and the conservation of unique biological resources. They are crucial for the protection of the coastline from extreme events like floods, and for providing diverse livelihood opportunities to people. However, coastal lagoons face a range of threats from multiple drivers at local, regional and global scales, and those drivers are both anthropogenic and climatic in nature.

In this thesis, I use a commons approach to examine changes in property rights regime in the Nurerri and Jubho lagoons of Pakistan to better understand their linkages with processes of environmental change. Both Nurerri and Jubho Lagoons are designated Ramsar sites inthe Indus delta of Pakistan, which is the world’s fifth largest delta system. The entire region, which includes a number of other important wetlands, has undergone serious degradation over the past three decades. This research considers the history of changes in the property rights regime in relation to the processes of environmental change. My main focus is to understand the extent to which environmental changes (i.e. reduced fresh water flow, recurrent floods, industrial pollution, and sea inundation) and changes in property rights (i.e. state property, communal property, partially open access, individual / private control) influence each other in times of uncertainty and how these changes affect the local communities. I also focus on the key drivers that influence these changes. I use a qualitative approach that offers a direction to my research and participatory methods for data collection. Findings indicate that there is a two-way feedback between environmental changes in the two lagoons and the system of property rights that shifted from a commons arrangement (mid 1970s) to being privately owned and then to a contractor system (1980s onward) before coming back to a commons arrangement in 2008. However, loss in the key physical and environmental features of the lagoons raises fundamental questions about sustaining / re-establishing commons even though policies are in place. I conclude with suggestions on sustaining lagoon commons for the future through crafting innovative governance arrangements that combine dynamic processes of change both in the physical and social spheres.