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Coastal dune conservation on an Irish commonage: community‐based management or tragedy of the commons?
Author(s) -
MC KENNA JOHN,
O’HAGAN ANNE MARIE,
POWER JAMES,
MACLEOD MICHAEL,
COOPER ANDREW
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
geographical journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.071
H-Index - 64
eISSN - 1475-4959
pISSN - 0016-7398
DOI - 10.1111/j.1475-4959.2007.00225.x
Subject(s) - tragedy of the commons , commons , legitimacy , environmental resource management , habitat , grazing , arcadia , environmental planning , control (management) , geography , irish , political science , ecology , environmental science , history , law , economics , politics , linguistics , philosophy , management , biology , art history
In Ireland ‘commonage’ refers to lands jointly owned by several individuals who have grazing rights. Commonage can provide the low‐intensity grazing regime regarded as optimal for habitat conservation, and it is also unlikely to suffer the negative impacts of building development or coastal engineering. Today, however, the traditional control systems of coastal commonage are generally moribund, leading to habitat degradation. The only viable future management model is likely to be one based on local community control. Community management would have the legitimacy to counter the negative perceptions of external authority that generate environmental degradation.