ABSTRACT
There are four features of traditional common property resource management that are relevant for the management of protected areas, local peoples, and the challenge of climate change. First, traditional resource management systems were developed through long-term experience with local conditions and resource responses, resulting in a detailed understanding of local resource conditions and relationships. Second, the resilience of traditional common property management is important for uncertain conditions regarding climate. Third, fundamental economic choices in common property regimes are different. Fourth, compared to industrial societies, the resource demands of people living in common property resource conditions are minimal. Northern indigenous people have until recently been largely self-sufficient, although trade, newcomers and emigrants, occasional hostilities, and other outside contact have also been important.
