The document summarizes a presentation given at a scientific committee meeting about a project analyzing common lands for sustainable management. It describes the project's objectives to understand governance of forest commons and identify how local communities can effectively manage forests. It then outlines the methodology used, including defining commons through legal grids, comparative analysis, and case studies of model areas. Finally, it discusses the need to reform laws governing commons to better focus on environmental management and considers the role of commoners' institutions in sustainable resource policies.

1. University of Agricultural Sciences and
Veterinary Medicine
Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Mrs. Sonia SÂNĂ
«Common lands for sustainable management»
2nd Scientific Committee
Palermo (Sicily - Italy) November 2nd and 3rd ,
2009.
.
Project co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund

2. PRESENTATION OF THE
METHODOLOGY FOR THE
COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS
«Common lands for sustainable management»
2nd Scientific Committee
Palermo (Sicily - Italy) November 2nd and 3rd ,
2009.
.
Project co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund

3. Project first phase outputs:
• three grids/partner which defines what
forest based common lands are and do,
from a legal perspective
• a paper illustrating the results of the
comparative analysis carried out to
underline existing differences in the
approach and definition of the object,
deriving from the collected grids.
« Common lands for sustainable management »
2nd Scientific Committee
Palermo (Sicily - Italy) November 2nd and 3rd , 2009.

4. PROJECT OBJECTIVES
• understand and exchanged practices on institutional
arrangements that define a forest-based common and its
governance system
• identified extent to which local community actors can effectively
govern forests in the actual institutional arrangement
• agreement upon the evidence that forest governance based on
commons represent an effective tool for sustainable forest
management
• improved institutional arrangements to implement forest-based
common governance as environment preservation and
valorisation tools
« Common lands for sustainable management »
2nd Scientific Committee
Palermo (Sicily - Italy) November 2nd and 3rd , 2009.

5. CONTENT
1.IDENTIFICATION
2.MANAGING STRUCTURES
3.CASE STUDIES
4.DE-REGISTRATION (CHANGE OF
USE
« Common lands for sustainable management »
2nd Scientific Committee
Palermo (Sicily - Italy) November 2nd and 3rd , 2009.

6. I. IDENTIFICATION
1.Definition
2.Classification
3.Land statute (Legislative
background)
« Common lands for sustainable management »
2nd Scientific Committee
Palermo (Sicily - Italy) November 2nd and 3rd , 2009.

7. II. MANAGING STRUCTURES
1.Property structure
2.Owners and their rights
3.Users and their rights
« Common lands for sustainable management »
2nd Scientific Committee
Palermo (Sicily - Italy) November 2nd and 3rd , 2009.

8. III. CASE STUDIES
A - Location
1. Identification of model area
2. Localization of model area
3. Presentation of model area
B - Background
1. History
2. Opportunities and threats
3. Objectives
« Common lands for sustainable management »
2nd Scientific Committee
Palermo (Sicily - Italy) November 2nd and 3rd , 2009.

9. IV. CHANGE OF USE
Towards a new legal framEwork?
• Common land in most countries has a distinctive legal status
where ownership of land is subject to third-party rights to use
the land and its produce.
• The need to reform the existing law governing commons is
widely recognised but attention to date has been largely
focussed on the recreational, agricultural and amenity uses of
commons. But common land has considerable environmental
significance, and there is an urgent need to develop a sharper
focus for its environmental management.
• Legal arrangements for the management of common land are
currently found in a number of old public and local Acts
« Common lands for sustainable management »
2nd Scientific Committee
Palermo (Sicily - Italy) November 2nd and 3rd , 2009.

10. • Management agreements are a favoured mechanism
under contemporary environmental legislation
dealing with the protection of Sites of Special
Scientific Interest, and under various agri-
environment schemes, but their implementation and
administration do not rest easily with the distinctive
nature of the interests associated with commons.
• New legislative measures that should be considered
include the granting of legal status to Commons
Associations, the introduction of more accurate and
up-to-date registers of interests, and measures to
deal with unused and excessive grazing rights.
« Common lands for sustainable management »
2nd Scientific Committee
Palermo (Sicily - Italy) November 2nd and 3rd , 2009.

11. CONCLUSIONS
• What role do Commoners institutions play within
the implementation process of natural resource
management policies?
• What are the conditions of the perpetuation of
Commoners institutions within western European
countries characterized by a high density of
policy regulations and an exclusive property
rights regime?
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of
political-administrative arrangements involving
Commoners institutions in the implementation of
sustainable resource management policies?
« Common lands for sustainable management »
2nd Scientific Committee
Palermo (Sicily - Italy) November 2nd and 3rd , 2009.

12. RECCOMANDATIONS
« Common lands for sustainable management »
2nd Scientific Committee
Palermo (Sicily - Italy) November 2nd and 3rd , 2009.