Conference:
Abstract: "Seasonally flooded wetlands under fallow are one of the very few remaining common property natural resources in Bangladesh. Traditionally, these wetlands have been accessible to surrounding communities especially to the poor and landless who derive benefits from their use. In recent years, the introduction of new technologies and increased competitive pressures for more intensive use of these wetlands have undermined traditional rules of access and benefit distribution. Extension and application of new aquaculture technologies in common property wetlands, formerly considered of little or no value, have increased their productive potential and consequently, have caused their value to rise. As a result of increasingly private investment and transformation of wetlands to more economically profitable land uses, the poor and the landless are denied access to these resources and deprived of their benefits. This has contributed to a widening gap between the better-off and the worse-off in rural communities and, in some cases, competition for the resource has spawned violence and abuse of human rights. This paper explores possible institutional arrangements and management mechanism that could increase wetland productivity and yet allow communities to retain access and management responsibility over them. Policy implications of these arrangements are discussed."