The Tiger and the Turbine: Indigenous Rights and Resource Management in the Naso Territory of Panama

Anthropologists have long recognized the central role of social systems in enhancing environmental sustainability, but few have attempted to accurately assess the conditions under which traditional social institutions can equitably and effectively manage access to natural resources for the purposes of their use and conservation. This book examines the connections between institutional and economic incentives and resource use and management decisions among the Naso indigenous people in Bocas del Toro, Panama. It incorporates insights from development anthropology, common property systems and political ecology to develop a multi-sited approach that uses multiple research methods. This analysis of the Naso case will be especially useful to development planners, regulators and other stakeholders interested in the design and implementation of more equitable solutions to problems with the distribution of the social and environmental costs and benefits associated with large infrastructure projects.

Jason J. Paiement, PhD: Studied anthropology at McGill University. Social development and safeguards specialist at the Asian Development Bank in Manila. Previously worked as a Consultant to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the World Bank.