It is a social structure or a framework within which
society manages its environmental resources. The framework defines rights of
access to the resource, powers to exclude others, rights of withdrawal, and
rights to manage, sell and dispose of the resource.
Why
do people strive (collectively or individually) to own and exercise control
over resources?
a)
To
secure the supply of food and essential resources
b)
A
desire to make profits
c)
A
desire to accumulate capital
d)
A
desire to improve upon one’s welfare
e)
A
desire to wield power over other humans
There is a free for all use of resources.
Individuals and groups take whatever resources they seek from the environment. Described
as having no organized regulations and mechanisms for allocating resources. Owners
of property consider themselves more as “custodians” of resources that belong
to the group. Right to exclude others, sell or dispose of the resource is not
common.
Open access use can be sustained if demand for the
resources from internal and external sources is modest.
2.
Common Property Regimes:
No individual is privileged regarding ownership of
property. It is unlike collective property regime because the collective
interest has no special status regarding resource allocation Rules governing
access to and control of material resources are organized on the principle that
each resource is available for use by any member. Regulations are often
developed to restrict use of some environmental resources to defined
individuals or groups. Common property regimes are not necessarily incompatible
with individual use. The extent to which commercial elements feature in common
property regimes is limited although not always so.
Land is not viewed as a commodity that can be sold
but rather as an inheritance that should be passed on to future generations. A
group of resources are classified under common property resources – oceans,
air.
Ownership of property is conferred on individuals. Common
property regimes often give way to evolving private ownership by individuals or
companies. In several parts of the world private ownership was imposed on
existing common property arrangements by European Colonizers.
The problem of allocation is resolved on the basis
of the collective interests of society as a whole. State ownership can be
established by declarations at any stage of the open access to private property
continuum. May be imposed because of dissatisfaction with the pattern of
private ownership or if private ownership proves incapable of managing the
resource in a sustainable manner. State ownership is necessary and desirable if
problems of environmental resources are to be avoided or minimized.
Drawbacks:
a) Can lead to the breakdown of local regulatory
mechanisms thereby creating a “free for all” use
b) Collective interest may be difficult to define