Common property protected areas: Community control in forest conservation

•This paper defines a common property protected area (CPPA).•Synergies are identified between common property theory and conservation policy.•Property rights bundles apply to ecosystem services as well as extractive resources.•The CPPA model identifies the rights and responsibilities of different stakeholders.•A case study of a communal forest in Costa Rica shows how a CPPA works in practice.

This paper examines the role of property rights and community control in promoting forest conservation, and extends the classic framework of the bundles of property rights to non-consumptive resources and ecosystem services. Common property resources are first contrasted with protected areas, and then combined to develop a conceptual framework for common property protected areas (CPPA). A case study of a communally owned forest reserve in Costa Rica shows how the CPPA model identifies various stakeholders and their roles, rights and responsibilities. We argue that landscapes under common property governance can extend and link protected areas across a mosaic of property types without sacrificing the wellbeing of local residents.