Boundaries, limits, landscapes and flows: An analytical framework for boundaries in natural resource management

Abstract

In times of increasing pressure on natural resources, resource boundaries have become more ambiguous. Resources are increasingly interlinked, and competing users may define a resource and its boundaries differently. At times, resource units are confined into “resource plots”, while at other times they are “resource stocks”. Nevertheless, according to Elinor Ostrom, “clearly defined boundaries” are an important design principle. Against this background, the aim of this article is to develop, based on the work of Achille Varzi, an analytical framework with the help of which a better understanding can be gained of boundaries and their ambiguities in CPR management. Applied to 33 publications from Elinor Ostrom, the framework shows that focus has been on spatial, social boundaries. Less attention has been paid to natural boundaries, and in particular to natural resource limits. Applied to three empirical cases from East Asia, the framework shows how a more nuanced understanding of boundaries and their ambiguities can inform environmental management on the role of ambiguity. On a theoretical level, the paper finds that we need to move away from understanding a resource as a plain landscape, to a landscape as composed of shifting equilibria of resource flows, the limits of which need to be incorporated in CPR management.