International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education
Editors: A/Prof John Lidstone, Queensland University of Technology and Prof Joseph P. Stoltman, Western Michigan University
Book Review Editor: Dr Sarah Witham Bednarz, Texas A & M University
Editorial Assistant: Donna Bennett, Australia
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Volume: 11 Number: 1 Page: 58–62
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Environmental Models, Cultural Values, and Emotions: Implications for Marine Resource Use in Tonga
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Andrea Bender
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The theory of common pool resources predicts the depletion of resources in cases where access to them is open while institutional regulations and awareness of ecological limits are lacking. However, the
case of fishing in Ha'apai, Tonga, shows that more detailed knowledge about ecological models and cognitive processes are necessary for an analysis of resource use. Access to Tongan fishing grounds is open
and a local 'providing' model suggests infinitely available marine species. Stabilising mechanisms can only be identified in this situation when the cognitive and social context, and particularly the sharing
principle, are taken into account. Tongan values emphasising concern and cooperation, linking the providing model and the sharing principle contribute to a reduction of harvesting efforts and thus, indirectly,
to an adoption of sustainable strategies.
© Multilingual Matters 2002
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