Sustainable management of rural-ecological commons: recommendations on eDPSIR causal networks

Abstract

This study aims to reveal the importance of the pastures as the rural-ecological commons in terms of biodiversity and ecological sustainability by focusing on the transformative impacts of the enclosure and commodification processes. Pastures are crucial especially within four dimensions: (1) rich biodiversity of flora and fauna; (2) rural development; (3) erosion prevention; and (4) rural tradition. Conflicts on the pastures and their triggering mechanisms are the main research interests of the study. Sustainable management of the rural-ecological commons has a potential to prevent the conflicts on the pastures. Three case study districts in Izmir (Turkey) are chosen to determine the conflicts on the pastures in relation with the recent legal regulations, determination, delimitation and allocation processes, malpractices and the civil responses. Data gathered from the interviews with professionals and village headmen, literature review, media analysis, and personal observations are evaluated by the content analysis to determine the main conflicts and the pasture dimensions for the eDPSIR (Driving force, Pressure, State, Impact, Response) model, which is an enhanced organisation tool to understand the multi-level relationships in environmental and social issues. The developed pasture dimension set evaluates the rural-ecological commons in relation with the actor relations and geographical aspects during the decision-making, common management and the planning processes.