The Well-Being of the Commons

By Emma Gordon
Leer en Español

People are especially extraordinary when they come together for the common good. The common good can be exhaustive, underwhelming, and tiresome most of the time, but working towards a common goal can be a little less lonely and burdensome with other people. Although working towards a common goal is tiring and discouraging, one of the many disappointing things is the tragedy of the commons. The tragedy of the commons is a concept that is talked about a lot throughout the social sciences.

The tragedy of the commons states that if there is a common, shared resource, it will be used until the resource is depleted and no longer viable due to self-interest. This phenomenon was first hypothesized by William Forster Lloyd and then became known as the tragedy of the commons by Garrett Hardin in 1968. The tragedy of the commons can be seen today in many places where there is overfishing, mass deforestation, and urban centers that struggle with food deserts. Although this sounds and looks bleak, there is some hope. The Nobel Prize for economics in 2009 was awarded to Elinor Ostrom who worked on this problem of the tragedy of the commons. She found that top down approaches like government regulation and privatization do not work effectively in protecting the commons. Ostrom instead found that resources are managed well when they are maintained by people who live in close proximity to the commons. Government regulation only works well when it is supported by the surrounding community. She also found that resources were left unprotected when external forces forced their way in with a personal agenda. The commons are best managed when local government, NGO’s, and the community work together to preserve them.  

In Colombia, the tragedy of the commons can be seen quite often, but so can the well-being of the commons. The region of Colombia that I am living in is named the Maria Mountains, and it is a place that has extremely fertile soil and is extremely biodiverse. Unfortunately this region has been vulnerable to deforestation, contamination by trash and chemicals, and illegal trafficking of plants and animals. Even though this is very disheartening, there are many people and organizations here that believe they can change the path of the Maria Mountains.

In the Alta Montaña, many youth are collecting seeds from the riverbed to grow in the local nursery, which will later be used to plant along the river to fight erosion. In other parts of the Alta Montaña there are alliances forming to educate people about litter and how trash can have a negative effect for farmers and the community. These alliances are also educating farmers about better farming techniques to employ on people’s personal and shared property. In Sincelejo there are a group of people who have bought common land to reforest and preserve what is already there. All of these groups are supported by Sembrandopaz which is a local organization that works with the community to strengthen community leaders and integrate better agricultural practices. Sembrandopaz and the community are showing that it doesn’t always have to be the tragedy of the commons, but it can be the well-being of the commons if we work together and make a few small steps towards change