The question of whether or not communities could and should manage their own resources according to their own custom, knowledge and technologies is an issue that has been analyzed from divergent perspectives. Recent academic attempts remark the positive role of community in natural resources conservation; however, local and indigenous populations have been criticized by anthropological and historical research, arguing that communities are not as environmentally-friendly as it has been stated. Either constrained by socio-economic and political processes or romanticized by advocates of...