The management of Lake Ellesmere / Te Waihora: an assessment of the integration of co-governance and community agreements into a nested, statutory mangement plan

Abstract

Strategies to manage common-pool resources vary and despite substantial scholarly and practical literature very little has been written on how communities and co-governance interact with a nested system, especially as they apply to a Treaty arrangement as is the case in New Zealand. This research compares the institutional design for managing Lake Ellesmere/Te Waihora to Ostrom’s Design principles for long-enduring CPR institutions. The results reveal that several of Ostrom’s principles are not met. Co-governance, co-management and Treaty relationships are also shown to impact the relationship between communities and nested systems through the lens of Ostrom’s principles.