N S Jodha speaks to emHimal/em about CPRs in rural Southasia; and the role of the state, the market and the communities themselves in the process. Common property resource (CPR) management has long been a significant arrangement in many parts of rural Southasia, playing an important economic and environmental role at the grassroots. The importance of research on this subject recently received recognition through the 2009 Nobel Prize for Economics conferred on Elinor Ostrom for her work on CPRs (see box: Rucha Ghate on Elinor Ostrom). N S Jodha, who worked until recently at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) in Kathmandu, and ex-President of the International Association for Study of Commons, is one of the pioneers in this field, having devoted over 30 years of work to the subject. He spoke to Himal about the importance of CPRs in rural Southasia, the gradual decline that they have been experiencing and the need to rehabilitate them, as well as the role of the state, the market and the communities themselves in the process.