ABSTRACT
The sustainable governance approach combines four elements: proprietorship, price, subsidiarity and inclusive governance, and collaborative adaptive management. It proposes that the economy of drylands and forests can often be rewilded by (1) devolving rights to wild resources to landholders (proprietorship), especially if (2) the value of wild resources to landholders is maximised (price). In addition (3) governance structures rooted in the citizenry and built from the bottom up are important and effective (subsidiarity). In a changing world, (4) the co-production of new institutions and capacities through collaborative learning processes and continual adaptation (collaborative adaptive management) is also crucial, especially for rebuilding social capital. The sustainable governance approach reverses the way conservation has been governed in the past, and provides a framework for addressing the challenges of disappearing wild resources and poverty in ungoverned spaces.
