This article examines a social arrangement that allows community access and use of the pequi (Caryocar brasiliense) and other native fruit species of the Brazilian savanna (cerrado) by groups that combine family farming with plant collection. The study is focused on Japonvar, a municipality located in the north of the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. It is grounded of the theory of common use of goods and resources developed by Elinor Ostrom and adopts an institutionalist perspective. It identifies and describes each social component that exerts influence on the common use experience of the pequi and is an operational part of the institutional framework of this collective system.
institutionalization; community management; fruits of the savanna; natural resources; Cerrado
