Work

Coercive conservation, defensive reaction, and the commons tragedy in Northeast Thailand

Year: 1994

Type: article

Abstract: This essay reconsiders privatization and nationalization as solutions to the degradation of open-access resources, “the tragedy of the commons”. Examining the case of recent forest conservation measures in Northeast Thailand, it underscores the fact that enclosures managed by a Leviathan-like state will not guarantee conservation. This is because states, like individuals, seek economic gains from the resources they control and because coercive conservation policies engender local resistance and resource vandalism. The essay suggests that, as an alternative to privatization and nationalization, local people should be encouraged to organize community resource management. For this to happen, it is necessary for local people to recognize common-pool resources as a common good, and for the state to give official support to community resource management.

Source: Habitat International

DOI: 10.1016/0197-3975(94)90008-6

Author: Masaki Matsumura

Institution: Cornell University

Language: English

Topic: Conservation, Biodiversity, and Resource Management

Subfield: Global and Planetary Change

Field: Environmental Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDGs: Life on land, Peace, justice, and strong institutions

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,560