Common property regimes in the forest

Our stay in Cavalese started with a trip up into the mountains! We had the opportunity to speak with a forest technician about the sustainability of the forests here – particularly after a very damaging storm in October 2019. The system they use to manage the area – known as a common property regime – is very unique. In the past, these systems have been used around the world to manage forests and other and resources for the long-term. Many have been legislated out of existence, but there are some cases where it is the best system to work towards sustainability.

Common property regimes are systems where a group of people who use a particular resource share the rights and duties towards managing the resource. They are used to manage common pool resources, which can be easily overused and depleted (like forests).  Common property regimes are shared private property, and they can be considered alongside things like business partnerships. In general, common property regimes provide a way of privatizing the rights to something without dividing it into pieces.

There are many benefits to using common property regimes, particularly when it comes to sustainability. They can provide advantages when the resource area has physical traits that make it impossible to divide it physically. They can also be used when there is uncertainty of how productive different areas will be from year to year. In these situations, the users of the resource may prefer to share the whole area and share the risks and benefits instead of parceling the area and risk some members rather than others.

Overall, while there are some situations where common property regimes may not be the best system, there are specific scenarios where it works for many people – like the community members in Cavalese.