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"The Commons" is a shared resource (common pool resource) and a conscious collective choice to conserve and maintain the resource (common property management). There are global commons (e.g. air, oceans) and place-based commons (e.g., offices, parks, water, watersheds, natural resources). Many commons are contested by its users: Where is the boundary? Who has access? Who is responsible for its health and preservation? How much can a person or group harvest or take? How is the resource allocated? Commons are connected to democracy: Who is eligible to make the rules? What are the payoffs or punishments for following or defying the rules? Indigenous peoples, in particular, must confront issues of the commons in areas without clear property rights.
"Conservation and The Commons" is an important concept affecting every natural resource everywhere, and all the above questions also apply.
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Tags/Keywords
commons, global commons, local commons, air, oceans, biodiversity, common pool resources (CPR), common property management, natural resource management, groundwater, watershed management, universal norms, working rules, Kyoto Protocol, United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, Convention on Wetlands of International Importance (RAMSAR), UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Program, new enclosures, corporate concentration
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Florida Oceanographic Society is working to protect, preserve and restore Florida's ocean and coastal ecosystems 
One World Wildlife undertakes ecological research, sustainable development initiatives and environmental education projects
