**7. Conclusion**

**6.2. Suitability to the local social-cultural contexts**

inflicting punishment on those who break the rules.

social friction and discord.

resource management practiced in Amanioho.

society [2].

100 Indigenous People

is very practical.

As seen till now, supernatural agents, rather than people, are expected to monitor resource use and inflict punishment on violators, which is the essential characteristic of the local forest

As commons studies have suggested, the cost of monitoring behaviour of resource user and enforcing rules have significant effects on the sustainability of resource use [26]. Formal institutions for resource management depend on a third-party legal structure where a regulatory agency often hires its own monitors (e.g. forest wardens, police and park guards) and mediators (e.g. lawyers). Thus, such a regulatory structure may require high costs charged to the

By contrast, the forest resource management in Amanioho does not burden the community with the high cost of monitoring human conducts and enforcing the rules. In Amanioho, as described in the previous section, there are more than 250 forest lots in the village territory. Thus, it would be difficult to monitor resource user's behaviour in huge forested areas. Under such situations, the resource management based on a supernatural enforcement mechanism

Furthermore, this resource management system is suitable to the local socio-cultural context. As I illustrate in another paper, in Amanioho, the locals have a strong fear of sorcery. Sorcery is regarded as an expression of the jealousy and discontent of others. Consequently, they avoid social discord and friction within the village [21]. 'The fear of sorcery' here means not only the fear that someone put a curse on him/her but also the fear that someone suspect him/ her of casting sorcery on them. If some friction and discord happen among villagers, they are tormented with a fear of sorcery. This is one of the main reasons for them to be inclined to detest friction and discord with others. Thus, the local people dislike pointing out errors of other people such as violations of *seli kaitahu* in face-to-face situations and avoid directly

This disposition was also observed when I conducted household interview about forest tenure. Through the interviews, it turned out that several villagers have contradictory accounts of the history of forest rights inheritance and transfer. Where such differing accounts arose, they bitterly resented those who have the contradictory understanding of the forest tenure status to their own version. However, they showed no intention to resolve the discrepancy through direct dialogue and negotiation. All they can do is complain to their families and relatives. By no means do they try to assert the legitimacy of the recognition to the opponent under a face-

Under the social-cultural context I described earlier, if there is an infringement of *seli kaitahu*, it is unlikely that the forest owner tries to find out and punishes the violator. The IRM, which is based on the supernatural enforcement mechanism, can prevent friction and discord among the villagers which may be caused by a social enforcement process. Thus, the IRM based on supernatural enforcement mechanism in Amanioho is a high suitability for the social-cultural context in which people have a strong disposition towards avoiding

to-face situation. Such a conduct must be accompanied with *mukae* (strong shame).

Supernatural agents (e.g. *mutuaila*, *awa* and *sira tana*) are certainly realities in the lived world of the local people in Amanioho. The local faith in these agents has had a significant influence in the arena where the norms to control local forest use have worked. The indigenous resource management based on the supernatural enforcement mechanism appears to contribute, to some extent, to the levelling of accesses to the forest, the prevention of the increase in harvesting pressure and the avoidance of resource conflicts. In addition, it is also heavily suitable to the local socio-cultural context where the local people have a strong tendency to avoid accusing someone's errors in face-to-face situation and directly inflicting punishment on violators. Therefore, to promote self-directed resource management by people who 'coexist' with supernatural agents, it is necessary to not only reconsider the intervention of outside agencies (NGOs and governments), which may break up the interrelationships between people and supernatural agents, but also construct a new model for resource management compatible with the local people's view of the supernatural world, taking cultural resilience into consideration.
