Herders and common property in evolution: an example from central Italy

This article discusses the transhumant pastoralists of the Abruzzo highlands of central Italy. The article indicates that this system of production depended, and still depends, on the availability of communal grazing areas where access is open to all local residents and management is joint. The article discusses the relationship between herders, common property regimes and the State.The article concludes that:as a pastoral system increases in complexity, from being a self contained CPR to an outward-looking one, with moveable assets and flocks, transaction costs increase. The State can assist in lowering transaction costsState assistance can be pitched at multiple levels and should be flexibleif the State is to provide a variety of duties, affordably, for small decentralised constituencies, then there must be an organisation or network connecting several CPRs in order that they function as a partner to State actionthe EU in particular has role in coordinating herders from different regions. This could take the form of monitoring livestock migration in consultation with herders