Interlinking Biodiversity Prioritization and Commons Recognition: Insights from a New Institutional Political Ecology Perspective (NIPE)

In modern societies, biodiversity is associated with the notion of pure nature, which is not only devoid of human intervention but also under threat from humans. From an ecological anthropological perspective, this paper argues that this naturalistic ontological separation of nature and culture is not shared by most societies in the Global South. Instead, there is a view that humans and non-humans share a world co-created by humans. According to this view, the biodiversity observed from these local perspectives is the result of human–non-human interactions in common property systems. This paper demonstrates how the diversity of common pool resources (CPRs) is shaped by locally crafted institutions (rules, laws and norms) that have regulated their management for centuries and shaped, co-created, and maintained cultural landscape ecosystems. Additionally, local communities have contributed to the diversity of domesticated plants and animals. However, this diversity is undermined by colonial processes that grab global commons, including the expansion of protected areas. We use a new institutional political ecology (NIPE) model to explain the different power processes whereby biodiversity becomes a newly valued commodity that is simultaneously used to exclude commoners. Using comparative research on African floodplains, the paper argues that biodiversity prioritization should recognize common property institutions.