The formulation of natural resource management policy generally involves science, socio-economic environment and legal framework. The thrust of the management policy is to derive maximum benefits from the natural resources while at the same time ensuring that the ecological integrity is not compromised. The basic scientific process elements such as ecological stability, resistance levels, resilience, restoration, enhancement, and carrying capacity have been discussed in relation to livestock grazing. These processes determine the sustainability of the pastures under use.
The socio-economic environment under which a policy is framed and implemented has a direct bearing on the effectiveness of the policy. Besides formal laws, important elements that have influence on the use, access and
sustainability of pastures are social structure, the role of the livestock in the socio-economic development, social organizational capability, flow of physical and social energy within and outside the communities, hierarchical structure of the communities, and patron-client relationship. Therefore, it becomes difficult for most of the formal laws to change the relationships relating to resource use and access patterns among the communities once such relationships are embedded in the social structure.
The laws of the country such as the Thrimzhung Chhenmo, the Land Act, the Forest and Nature Conservation Act and the National Assembly resolutions protect property rights over pastures. Besides such laws, customary sanctions on the use of and access to pastures have also evolved over the years. To amend such laws involving property transfer rights from private to state or common may be a complicated process as proven in the past. Some examples are nationalization of pastures and sharecropping. More innovative approaches will be necessary to rationalize the relationship between productivity of natural resources, and property rights ownership.
