![]() ![]() The soil eroded, the plants died, then the cattle died, and, ultimately, some of the people died. Like the herdsmen in 1800s Oxford, the nomads increased their heads of cattle without planning for its impact on the greater good. Outside the fence was land used by nomads. The reason was simple: the fenced land was privately owned by informed farmers who carefully rotated their grazing animals and allowed the fields to lie fallow periodically. Outside the fence, the ground was bare and devastated. There was a large fenced area, where plenty of grass was growing. ![]() The images depicted a dark irregular area of more than 300 square miles. Satellite photos of Africa taken in the 1970s showed this practice to dramatic effect. So there was an incentive for them to add more head of cattle, and no incentive for restraint. ![]() Cattle grazers benefitted from adding more cattle to their herds, but they did not have to take on the responsibility of the lands that were being damaged by overgrazing. However, since no one was held responsible for the land (as it was open to all), no one was willing to make sacrifices to improve it. Back in the 1800s, Oxford economist William Forster Lloyd looked at the devastated public grazing commons and the unhealthy cattle subject to such limited resources, and saw, in essence, that the carrying capacity of the commons had been exceeded. But Hardin was not the first to notice the phenomenon. You might have heard the expression “the tragedy of the commons.” In 1968, an article of the same title written by Garrett Hardin described how a common pasture was ruined by overgrazing. Textbook content produced by OpenStax is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License. We recommend using aĪuthors: Heather Griffiths, Nathan Keirns Use the information below to generate a citation. Then you must include on every digital page view the following attribution: If you are redistributing all or part of this book in a digital format, Then you must include on every physical page the following attribution: If you are redistributing all or part of this book in a print format, ![]() Want to cite, share, or modify this book? This book uses the ![]()
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