Much of the environmental income earned in the developing world comes from common pool resources (CPRs). Common pool resources are forests, fisheries, reefs, waterways, pastures, agricultural lands, and mineral resources that no individual has exclusive rights to. They are typically owned and administered by the state, a village, a tribe, or other social grouping, with the idea that the benefits will accrue to many people rather than one person or family. Local and distant residents go there to collect fire wood, graze their cattle, gather nontimber forest products like medicinal herbs or mushrooms, hunt, fish, collect water, or make use of a variety of other services such as visiting sacred groves. Because these “commons” or “public domain” lands are such a rich source of environmental income, they are a crucial element in the livelihood strategies of the poor, particularly those who do not own land themselves (Jodha 1986:1169).

Just how important are they? Research over the past two decades has amassed a fair amount of evidence on this topic, particularly in India. N.S Jodha, in his pioneering study of 80 villages across seven semi-arid states in India, found that the poor make extensive use of common areas, with CPRs contributing 15-25 percent of household income (Jodha 1986:1177). Other studies from different states in India have found that CPRs contribute up to 29 percent of the income of poorer households (Adhikari 2003:5). Altogether, CPRs contribute some US$5 billion a year to the incomes of India's rural poor, according to one estimate (Beck and Nesmith 2001:119).

Fewer studies have been done in other parts of the world, but there are indications that many of the rural poor derive a similar or higher percentage of their income from the commons (Beck and Nesmith 2001:119). In Botswana, researchers found that the poorest 20 percent of the population earn 51 percent of their household income from CPRs (Kerapeletswe and Lovett 2001:1). In southeastern Zimbabwe, households (both rich and poor) get 35 to 40 percent of their income from the commons (Cavendish 1998:7). Over 90 percent of Cambodians reported they make use of common property fish resources from lakes, rivers, flooded ricefields, and even flooded forests (Ahmed et al. 1998 in UK DFID 2000:31).

Without access to these resources, poor families would be virtually unable to support themselves. For example, poor households in Jodha's study met 66-80 percent of their fuel requirements from CPRs. Common areas also contribute a great deal of fodder, allowing poorer families to raise more livestock than they would otherwise be able to support (Jodha 1986:1173).