NR Conflicts: What accounts for them?

Value could mean the monetary worth of something, in this case, the market price. It could also mean the relative worth, utility or importance if something. 

With regards to Natural Resources, it can therefore be said, Values is the monetary worth or other importance stakeholders attach to these resources. Due to differences in preferences, as informed by different backgrounds and goals, people or stakeholders attach different values to  Natural Resources.

Michael Jones, several years back identified different kinds of values, which I believe are of high significance to Natural Resources related conflicts, even in recent times. The values identified by Jones includes, Market Values, Subsistent Values, Security Values, Identity Values, among others. 

Knowing values as they are now, could it be said that, the clash of different stakeholder values in either the management or use of Natural Resources results in conflicts?

What of Social Inequality? This could be said to be a social relational process which can affect or limit a groups social class or ranking. An example of this is the caste system, where some people are ranked higher than others. Social inequality can affect or limit access to Natural Resources by some members of a community. There is the likelihood of Social Inequality causing conflict over Natural Resources.

Can Poverty be a factor that causes Natural Resources conflict? Difference in income levels could give the rich access to Natural Resources at the expense of the poor. There is also the likelihood for the rich to recruit the poor as rebels, especially in Natural Resources armed conflicts.

There may be more factors that account for Natural Resources conflicts. Share your opinions as to what some of these factors are. Knowing the factors is a step towards reducing or resolving Natural Resources Conflicts.

Natural Resources: Ownership, Management and Use

As per the meaning of Natural Resources, no man has a hand in its existence. It may therefore be right to think or say that these resources can and should be used by all. But is that really the case? Not exactly. Allowing all and sundry access to Natural Resources would lead to depletion and unsustainable use. This is best explained by the "Tragedy of the Commons", as theorized by Garret Harding. In simple terms, the theory seeks to explain the innate selfish behaviour of human beings when it comes to openly using Natural Resources. One tends to consume or use as much as he/she can without giving a thought about others or the future generation. People will seek to maximize their usage for their own satisfaction, without putting measures in place for future consumption.

The question of Ownership, Management and Usage of Natural Resources can best be answered by using the theory of Common Pool Resources. In his book, "Managing Common Pool Resources", Kata Singh defines Common Pool Resources as, "a significant proportion of the total endowment of Natural Resources, comprising land, water, forests and fisheries, that are used in common by people." This presupposes that Common Pool Resources can be tapped from by many different people for different purposes. Nathalie Steins and Victoria Edwards term this as Complex Multiple-Use Common Pool Resources.

Owning, Managing and Using Common Pool Resources is done under four regimes. These are:

1. Public Resources: This is sometimes termed as public goods. Resources are said to belong to the nation, region or local government. As such, people in authority set rules regarding who can access such resources. Managing such resources is done by the government of the nation, who regulate the rate at which these resources are used in order to sustain it for future generations.An example in this case is a forest area, where the government set rules to regulate the number of trees that can be cut within a certain time frame.
2. Common Property Resources: Such resources are usually owned by communal groups, thus used and managed by them. For example, a demarcated area among a huge Common Pool Resource area owned by a community
3. Private Property: This is where Private individuals or corporate bodies have obtained or purchased a resource area. In such a case, the private owners determine the use rate and management of the resources. For example, a private entity obtaining a section of a river for fishing purposes.
4. Open Access: In this regime, the resource is free for all and it is used in common. There are no rules pertaining to access to resource and the allocation of units from the resource. An example of this could be a forest area in a local community. People can tap wild fruits or game from it, while others would tap fire wood from it, without any any regulation. Depletion of resources is very high in this case.

Common Pool Resources have multiple users, who have benefit differently. What happens when the use of resources by a user depletes the resource availability for other users? Is management of these resources effective? Is the process of allocating resources and giving access to resource usage done fairly?
 

AN INSIGHT INTO NATURAL RESOURCES

About 75% of the things we consume, be it edible or for external use comes from Natural Resources. Like many other words with a lot of meaning, I find these meanings intriguing.
RESOURCE

•  "a source of supply or support, an available means."
• "a natural source of wealth or revenue."
• "a natural feature or phenomenon that enhances the quality of human life."
•  "a source of information or expertise."
• "a possibility of relief or recovery."
• "a means of spending ones leisure time."
• "ability to meet and handle a situation."

Resources could be man made or natural. The focus here is on Natural Resources, which are those that man has no hands in its existence. Natural Resources are of two kinds- Renewable and Non-renewable. Renewable Natural Resources are those that given time, will replenish or rejuvenate itself through a means of biological reproduction or other processes that occurs naturally. A definition most suitable for Renewable Natural Resources was given by Paul Alfred Weiss in 1962. He defined Renewable Natural Resources as, "the total range of living organisms providing man with food, fibers, drugs, etc...". This definition has a link with the several definitions given above. Examples of Renewable Natural resources are Forest, Rivers, Fish among others.
Non-renewable natural resources are those that do not replenish themselves given the normal human times scale. That is to say that such resources only rejuvenate over hundreds of years. Examples include coal, fossil fuel, crude oil among others.

The definitions given above implies that humans benefits from resources, either directly or indirectly. Directly, people can tap from natural resource and eat or sell to make money. Some people benefit from natural resources through leisure. People in the creative art industry go there to get creative and innovative. Yet still, some tap these natural resources as raw materials for manufacturing purposes.
Apart from individual who benefit from natural resources, some communities benefit from these resources culturally. The government also benefits from natural resources. Private individuals or companies , either local or foreign may also benefit from natural resources.

The benefits these groups or stakeholders, so to speak have are different, and as such, they have different values attached to these resources. Sometimes, often times, there are clashes between stakeholders or people who benefit from natural resources when it comes to management and usage of these.

What could be the main reasons behind these clashes, usually termed as CONFLICTS?