Historically, many of the natural resources managed in rural areas by local people have been obtained by the government for public use in urban areas and other regions (e.g., water), for recreational use (e.g., via national or state parks), or for leasing to private interests (e.g., drilling or solar and wind farms). In addition, large private corporation purchasers (often with government support) obtain or lease land for many of the same uses, plus for development, and more recently, to obtain non-carbon reducing carbon credits. Not only does this remove the wealth-producing ownership of these natural resources from local control, but the immediate and long-term value that rural people created by maintaining the resources over many decades is rarely taken into account.
Shifting this balance of power to recognize the importance of local control, ownership, and benefit with a focus on long-term sustainability is important to ensuring local wealth creation and regional prosperity in rural places.
Evidence
Evidence indicates this building block is important because of the long-term undervaluing of the benefits accrued to humans through healthy natural ecosystems, the environmental and human harm caused by decision-making that does not accurately account for the cost of loss of healthy natural ecosystems, and the failure to recognize and compensate people and communities that steward natural ecosystems in rural and other areas.1,2
Natural ecosystem services are “the benefits people get from ecosystems”.2(pv) The goal of the UN-led Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA), a comprehensive effort that involved 1300 authors from 95 countries with 36 study sites, was to assess the current status of ecosystem services across the world and provide guidance on conservation.3 The MEA categorized ecosystem services into different functions – supporting (soil formation, photosynthesis, etc.), provisioning (food, water, fuel, etc.), regulating (climate, flood, etc.), and cultural (spiritual, aesthetic, recreation, etc.) – and explored ways to assess the value of those services. The MEA also modeled links between ecosystem services and domains of well-being, including security, basic materials for good life, health, good social relations, and freedom of choice and action.2(pvi) The MEA found that humans have caused rapid and, in some cases, irreversible changes in natural ecosystems from 1950-2000 and that 60% of the services provided by natural ecosystems identified in the study were degrading or being used at unsustainable levels. Economic gains have come from the use/misuse of natural ecosystems. Marginalized populations, including people living in poverty, are disproportionately impacted by environmental degradation2 and often have less say in how the ecosystems are managed.
Understanding the costs and benefits of ecosystem services requires a mechanism for assigning a value to different services and their stewarding.1,4 For example, the US National Wildlife Refuge System estimated the value of the Refuge System as $26.9 billion/year by assigning value based on the number of acres, type of land cover, and the range of ecosystem services the land provides, including climate regulation, habitat preservation, and freshwater supply.5 In a more recent study, the Refuge System assigned economic value to the carbon storage that their wetlands provide.6 The MEA emphasizes the value of local and indigenous knowledge and suggests people should be compensated for their knowledge and resources, as understanding local ecosystems is key for stewarding them and often is ignored in large-scale development.1 Other models incentivize sustainable practices on privately-owned land, for example, an initiative that incentivized sustainable forest management in Mexico reduced deforestation by 46-50%.7 The valuation of ecosystem services and those who steward them is not without challenges, as market-driven and private property models do not adequately accommodate for public goods shared in common.1,8
One approach to value the knowledge and labor of rural communities in stewarding natural resources is shifting power away from external governmental or corporate entities to models of community-owned or community-managed common natural resources. In response to the influential assertion that ordinary community members lacked the capacity to manage their own shared natural resources and required private entities or government to control the resource, Elinor Ostrom and colleagues documented that, throughout the world, when certain practices and shared understanding are in place, community groups regularly manage their shared natural resources or common pool resources (rivers, fisheries, and forests).9,10 Practices that allow for collective management include shared purpose, fair and inclusive decision-making, authority to self-govern, equitable distribution of contributions and benefits, and may involve structures for navigating community property rights such as the Common Asset Trusts.8,10 Other studies have identified similar key elements for successful community management of shared natural resources, such as public participation, collaborative partnerships, communication and information dissemination, monitoring and feedback, and public trust.11
- Duraiappah et al. 2005
- MEA 2005
- Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
- TEEB 2010
- Ingraham 2008
- Patton 2014
- Alix-Garcia 2012
- Constanza 2021
- Ostrom 2012
- Ostrom 2015
- Gruber 2008
Curated Resources
Rural Outdoor Recreation Economies: Challenges and Opportunities
Tourism and outdoor recreation are driving new opportunities for local communities in many rural places. Analysis of recent news articles and solutions shared with Aspen CSG by rural practitioners provide perspective on how to do economic development differently with rural recreation economies…
Stewardship + Equity: Rooting a New Rural Legacy
Rural and Native communities have been stewarding the land for generations. Many are developing new ways of growing nature and…
Naturally Balanced: What does it take to steward the land and grow rural prosperity?
Rural and Native communities have been stewarding the land for generations. Many are using new ways of growing nature and…
Environmental Justice Practices & Resources for Rural Communities
Practitioner insights and resources on rural environmental justice, including ideas on just and equitable energy transitions.
Pathfinders: Climate-Smart Solutions from Rural America and Native Nations
Jul. 7th, 2022, 2PM
Drought and wildfire in the West, rising seas and erosion in the Mississippi River Delta, and erratic weather patterns throughout…
Place Matters: Suiting Climate Solutions to Rural Regions
A recent New York Times article detailed the climate-related pros and cons of using wood pellets for heating in the Southeast United…
Towards Rural Resilience: Preparation for a Changing Planet
We are ever in search of silver linings. As our changing climate and lopsided growth increase risks for people and places, some rural communities, even as they respond to these challenges, are preparing and looking for opportunity…
Tension as Catalyst: Land Stewardship and Development Align for a Better Rural West
It’s no secret: the fortunes and future of many rural communities, especially in the West, are strongly tied to how natural resources are cared for and managed. In the past, economic development proponents and natural resource champions have often been at odds on resource use…
Collaboration and Innovation for a Better Rural West
The most recent America’s Rural Opportunity event brought together panelists from a forest collaborative, tribal government, environmental group and stewardship organization in Idaho and Oregon…
All Land is not Creating Equal: Unleashing Family and Community Wealth through Land Ownership
Nov. 18th, 2020, 1PM
The YouTube link above is a playlist – it has nine videos that cover all the different sessions of this…
For Our Clean Energy Economy Future, It’s Time to Tap Rural Innovation
Rural communities are integral to our nation’s economy, culture, history, and the environmental services that we all depend on. Yet…
Reframing Natural Resource Economies
This third America’s Rural Opportunity panel will focus on rural innovators who steward the nations’ natural resources and use those resources to create jobs and businesses…
Field Items
Elinor Ostrom’s 8 Rules for Managing the Commons
The EarthBound Report reflects on Elinor Ostrom’s research on the commons and list of principles for running the commons.
Smart Growth Toolkit for Rural Communities
The EPA Smart Growth Self-Assessment for Rural Communities (2015) is a compilation of strategies, organized by 11 common “goal areas,” that villages, towns, and small cities can use to evaluate their existing policies to create healthy, environmentally resilient, and economically robust places.
America’s Forests with Chuck Leavell
PBS features the nationally recognized and award-winning Sustainable Forestry and African American Land Retention (SFLR) program.
We see the framework as a living document, which necessarily must evolve over time, and we seek to expand the collective ownership of the Thrive Rural Framework among rural equity, opportunity, health, and prosperity ecosystem actors. Please share your insights with us about things the framework is missing or ways it should change.