Monoscapes - Agri-culture: Reconnecting People, Land and Nature - page 35

that promoted careful use of natural resources. They quote a third-century
edict, in what is now Orissa, which stated that:
Medical attendance should be made available to both man and animal; the medicinal
herbs, the fruit trees, the roots and tubers, are to be transplanted to those places where
they are not presently available, after being collected from those places where they
usually grow. Wells should be dug and shadowy trees should be planted by the roadside
for enjoyment both by man and animal. 20
Over time, communities developed locally specific regulations and rules
for the care of natural resources. Often, named families were the forest
guards; elsewhere, others would do all the harvesting and delivery of wood
to households. Rules on hunting were common, such as the release of
trapped pregnant does or young deer. These community regulations came
under serious pressure during the colonial era. Timber was exported to
Europe and used as sleepers in the expansion of the domestic railway
network. Whole forests in the Himalayas were 'felled even to destruction' , and
hills in southern India 'to a considerable degree laid bare' .
Wild common property resources are still important to many rural
people in developing countries. The poorest are the most dependent upon
the commons and are, of course, the least likely to have political power.
Therefore, they are unable to prevent the loss or appropriation of these
commons. Many have argued that commons are tragedies because they
cannot be productive - too many collective constraints on the whole, too
many free riders. Large-scale privatization, or enclosure, has been the
result. This is no surprise, perhaps; but whether in England during the
18th century, or India during the later 20th century, the losers were always
the poorest. In some cases, this was the intention; in others, it was an
accidental but inevitable outcome. During enclosures, those with rights
to commons were often bought off, and the money spent or the land
repossessed. These histories of dispossession are long, deep and painful.
Sadly, they persist today in the names of both conservation and agri-
cultural modernization. 21
The Loss of Commons Knowledge
in South-East Asia
The rice fields of South-East Asia are one of the wonders of the world.
On a bright day, the azure blue of the watery fields sparkles, as snow-white
egrets drift gently across the landscape. When grey clouds bring down the