The International Forestry Resources and Institutions (IFRI) Research Network is a cooperative of research centres and researchers focused on exploring how people shape the world’s forests. The network is collaborating to collect core data across many countries, and this presentation outlines the approach to collecting this data and gives some examples of questions posed to communities about tenure. This presentation was given during CIFOR’s Annual Meeting 2012, which was held on 1–5 October at the headquarters in Bogor, Indonesia.

1. The IFRI Approach to Studying
Tenure
Krister Andersson
University of Colorado at Boulder, USA
International Forestry Resources and Institutions (IFRI) Research Network
2012 CIFOR Annual Meeting
Exploring how people shape the world’s forests…

2. Take‐home message
• IFRI approach is useful because
– Collects comparable data from multiple contexts
– Relies on overtime observations
– Has a nested data structure
Exploring how people shape the world’s forests…

3. What is IFRI?
• International Forestry Resources and Institutions (IFRI) Research Network
• A network focused on local forest governance and outcomes
• Est. 1992 by Elinor Ostrom at Indiana U. with support from FAO
• Now coordinated by Arun Agrawal at U of Michigan
• 12 Collaborating Research Centers (approximately 40 researchers)
• 330 researchers trained (from 38 countries)
• 225 peer‐reviewed publications (30K citations on Google scholar)
Exploring how people shape the world’s forests…

4. Exploring how people shape the world’s forests…

5. IFRI Shared Database – June ’12
Visits per Site Total
1 Visit 150
2 Visits 108
3 Visits 69
4 Visits 4
Total Sites 331
Exploring how people shape the world’s forests…

6. IFRI Data Structure
Exploring how people shape the world’s forests…

7. Field Research Approach
• In‐depth qualitative case
studies, 2‐4 weeks/site
• CRCs collect and code
comparable field data
• Ecological, socioeconomic,
institutional variables
• Sources of data: direct
measurements, participant
observation, key informants,
focus groups, census,
cadaster—not surveys alone!
Exploring how people shape the world’s forests…

8. Nested units of analysis
• Enables multilevel analysis
• Exploits three types of
variation:
– Temporal
– Spatial
– Inter‐level
Exploring how people shape the world’s forests…

9. Approach for studying tenure
• Property rights: “rules
affecting the flow and
distribution of benefits
from resources to
users”
• Codes about 50
variables related to
property rights
• Team leader chooses
appropriate field
methods Exploring how people shape the world’s forests…

10. Sample variables about tenure
At product level:
B1. What is the nature of the group's current legal claim to the
harvest or use of this forest product? <RLEGCLAIM>
(1) De jure (by right, as established by law)
(2) De facto (as exists, not necessarily by legal establishment)
(3) De jure and de facto (they have a formal right and exercising it)
(4) Contrary to formal law
D1. Do accessing, harvesting, processing, or selling rules exist
that affect the harvesting level or use of this product?
<RRULEEXIST>
Exploring how people shape the world’s forests…

11. Tenure variables at Forest level
• F1. Does this user group include the owner(s)
of the forest? <GOWNFOREST>
• D2. If more than one group uses this forest,
are rules for using this forest well defined
between different groups? That is, are there
rules that specify the actions that different
groups follow? <FRULEDEFIN>
Exploring how people shape the world’s forests…

12. Conclusions
• Strengths
– Comparable core data across many sites
– Longitudindal
– Nested units of analysis
• Weaknesses
– Sampling strategy
– Core data only—insufficient in many contexts
Exploring how people shape the world’s forests…

13. Further Information about IFRI
IFRI website at http://www.umich.edu/~ifri
krister.andersson@colorado.edu
Exploring how people shape the world’s forests…