The Tragedy of the Commoners: The Decline of the Customary Marine Tenure System of Tonga

In English The breakdown of traditional marine tenure systems and overexploitation of marine organisms as a result of rapid modernization, urbanization and population growth in the case of Tonga is outlined. The customary marine tenure system is described and the threats against the coral reefs are discussed. It is shown how accumulative strategies correlate with the move toward overexploitation. It is argued that biodiversity, ethnobiology and biodiversity conservation should increasingly serve as a focus of teaching research and community outreach programmes for a better understanding and appreciation of biodiversity and its role as a foundation for environmental sustainable development. The need for considering the possibility of exclusion under communal property regimes, rather than assuming that common property is the same as open access, is emphasized.