Tikopia, the society that avoided the tragedy of the commons

Abstract

Abstract History has provided many examples that prove the viability of the ‘Tragedy of the Commons’ model. The tragedy was repeated in various historical periods and geographical locations causing ecological and social collapse. However, the catastrophic outcome can in theory be averted and there are four mechanisms that can be used to achieve this. But have these ever yielded actual results? Tikopia, a small island in the Pacific, is the proof that they have. We carried out literature research and applied the Tragedy of the Commons model to the environmental history of Tikopia for the first time. The chances to avert tragedy are highest when the four mechanisms are used simultaneously and we have found that Tikopians probably did that. The question is relevant for us because only two mechanisms are mostly used today worldwide: government measures and information dissemination. This may be one of the main reasons why we have been quite unable to mitigate the ecological crisis so far. Key words: tragedy of the commons, Tikopia, environmental sustainability, environmental history