Case study - Property rights: access to land and forest resources in Uganda

Abstract

Property rights influence the incentives and the behavior of individuals within a community with respect to rules that each and every person must observe in his/her interactions with other people (Hallowell 1943; Bromley 1992). Tenure consists of a bundle of rights that an individual has in a resource (Bruce 1989). It includes the terms and conditions under which resources are owned, accessed, managed, and transferred. Therefore, the rights that users have affect the incentives for sound use or misuse of resources. Consequently, tenure must be taken into account when planning strategies for natural resource management.