This book demonstrates the viability of the participatory natural resource management and conservation models as a tool for conserving biological diversity and maintaining ecological integrity in built space. In doing so, it debunks the notion of ‘tragedy of the commons’. Instead, it seeks to advance the ‘logic of collective action’, which essentially holds that if members of a group of any size have common interests, they will act collectively to achieve them. It effectively employs the notion of ‘self-governance of commons’ as articulated by Nobel laureate Elinor Ostrom.The book marshals evidence from a rich array of cases throughout the world in which people have come together to promote and maintain the biological diversity and ecological integrity of their communities. The chapters highlight the rules, institutions and procedures that account for environmental conservation success or failures in these communities. The book is richly punctuated with analyses designed to test the a) validity of commonly used indicators, and b) tenability of conventional assumptions about the link between community participation and outcomes in urban natural resource management. It provides a timely insight, as collectivism, manifested in terms of community-based initiatives, appears to be regaining the ground it once lost to individualism. weiterlesen