Successful collective action is understood as the capacity of a human group to overcome the transactions costs and self-interest of each individual within the group to engage in cooperative behavior for the common good. It is well-documented in the literature that when successful collective action takes place tragedies of the commons can be avoided. In this talk I propose that the ability of a human group to engage in successful collective action constitutes an enabling factor for the provision of ecosystem services because when tragedies of the commons are avoided and resources are not overexploited the flow of ecosystem services to that human group can be maintained and sustained overtime. I illustrate my argument through a comparative study of community-based, small-scale fisheries in the Gulf of California Mexico. In which some communities were able to engage in successful collective action and maintain the provision of ecosystem services while others did not.
Results/Conclusions
My findings show that some communities where able to engage in cooperative behavior—successful collective action—to design rules with which to control access and fishing effort to their fishing grounds. The benefits brought from their ability to do so went beyond the avoidance of overfishing commercially valuable resources—a very important outcome in itself—but also included the protection of other important flows of ecosystem services provided by species and species assemblages of non-commercial value, but nevertheless of high cultural importance to sustain the fishing communities’ own social cohesion and identity. I end my presentation by elaborating on 1) what are some of the social and biophysical variables that are thought to increase the likelihood that successful collective action will emerge in any particular setting and be sustained overtime. 2) Some thoughts on the advantages and disadvantages of this approach for decision-making processes for marine conservation and governance initiatives.
