Management of Common Property - Essay Example

Management of Common Property Common property is both a political and economic concept that refers to resources owned and used by several countries. Lakes, rivers, forests and oceans among many other similar resources extend boundaries a feature that implores effective management in order to preserve the resources. This way, the resources benefit the people for longer. The rising global warming in the contemporary society is a portrayal of the negative effects of overutilization and poor management of such resources a feature that contributes to the rapid depletion of some of such resources globally (Joshua 61).

Indio-pacific is an example of a common property whose management by different authorities depicts the consideration of various factors as the governments strive to preserve a natural resource that benefits them indiscriminately. Indo-pacific is a vast water body that extends from the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean to the western and central parts of the Pacific Ocean. The region further covers parts of waters covering the eastern Pacific Ocean thereby covering several regions including eastern Africa peninsular, south Asia and the Americas.

This way, the water body extends to different territories, which use the resource differently. Among the common uses of the water body, include fishing, navigation, sports, tourism among many others. Furthermore, the water body is an ecosystem that sustains millions of species of both animals and plants. The conversation of indo-pacific therefore results in a sustained ecosystem that continues to replenish itself. This way, nature takes its course thereby safeguarding the longevity of the water body.

Different countries and societies bordering the indo-pacific have formulated numerous preservation techniques that have successfully safeguarded the life of the water body. Among such technique is customary marine tenure, a unique technique that makes the local societies bordering the water body appreciate the resource thereby guiding its usage. The local societies interact with the water bodies regularly; this implies that they contribute to its degradation. Furthermore, the degradation of such resources affects the life of the local societies directly since some of them draw their livelihoods from the water body.

The annihilation of fish from the water body for example will affect the livelihood of the local societies whose main occupation is fishing. The local societies in the pacific embrace the waters managing its usage and including the management of the water body in some of their cultural features thereby making every member of the society manage their interaction with the waters in a manner that upholds the preservation of the natural resource. Through the system, the local societies have infiltrated the conservation of the waters in the society.

Such smaller social units as the family and the clans regulate access of the waters. In parts of New Guinea among other regions in the Pacific, local communities have embraced the management and conservation of the natural resource. The societies share the waters by apportioning territories to particular families, individuals and clans among other kin based organizations. They therefore control access to inshore marines besides the use of the resources found in different parts of the waters. Through such smaller social institutions, the societies increase accountability on the utilization of the common property since they make individuals account for the uncontrolled utilization of the waters.

While the technique was traditional and fitted the traditional setups, the culture created effective structures for the contemporary governments to roll out effective resource management projects that ensure that the intensifying globalization does not impair the conservation efforts. Other effective conversation plans authorities in the Pacific region use include periodic reef closures. Extensive harvesting of the natural resources including the reefs and fish among many others contribute to their depletion.

The growing global demands for such products as sea fish among other animals continue to widen the market for the products. The local authorities in the region have therefore adopted effective policies to ensure that the life of the animals in the region besides other natural resources in the region. Through periodic reef closures, the authorities limit access to different parts of the water body thereby limiting such activities as the harvesting of the resources. The authorities in different parts of the pacific limit access to parts of the indo-pacific for numerous months within a year (Garret 55).

This way, the authorities provide the ecosystem with adequate time to replenish thereby providing temporary breeding time for both the fish and other living organisms in such ecosystems. Periodic reef closures minimize human activities in parts of the waters. The closure is fundamental since the depletion of the natural resources arise the growing from human demand globally. By limiting human access, the authorities therefore create the natural condition for the growth and replenishment of the natural resources.

Some of the animals in the water body reproduce within short periods. A seven months closure of a reef for example thus becomes adequate for the population of some species of fish to increase. An increase in the population of fish intensifies activities in such regions as the animals engage in the development of their habitat. Through successive food chains, the population of the animals increase progressive owing to the availability of food in lower parts of the food chain. The local societies in the region have appreciated the conservation of the natural resources taking it upon themselves to regulate the use of the resources.

Through conservation cultures, the societies envisioned the protection of the natural resources in the future of the societies thereby compelling the inclusion of such policies in the laws of the region. Successive conservation efforts include entry limitations, gear restrictions and periodic reef closures. The inclusion of such conservation efforts in the laws thus makes a breach of any of the laws an offense punishable by the laws (Paul 21). Customary marine tenure is a unique yet an efficient system of conserving the environment.

The system has succeeded in making conservation of the natural resources both cultural and legal feature of the societies. In a summary, the management of common property is a communal responsibility. This implies that the societies benefiting from the natural resource must uphold ethical standards whenever they interact with such resources. Global warming has resulted in several undesirable environmental effects a feature that depicts unethical utilization of some of the common property. However, communities living around the indo-pacific have portrayed responsive utilization of the natural resource as they uphold the conversation of the water body.

The societies have for example succeeded in making the conservation of the waters a cultural feature. This binds every individual to uphold the values as envisaged in the cultural and legal apparatus in the regions. Works cited Garret, Hardin. The tragedy of the commons. Science Vol 168: 3859. 1968. Print. Joshua, Cinner. Socioeconomic factors influencing customary marine tenure in the Indo-Pacific. Ecology and Society 10(1): 36. 2005. Print. Paul, Seabright. Managing Local Commons: Theoretical Issues in Incentive Design.

The Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 7, No. 4. (Autumn, 1993), pp. 113-134. Print.