Chronicle of a Foreseeable Tragedy: Birds' Nests Management in the Niah Caves (Sarawak)

@article{Gausset2004ChronicleOA,
  title={Chronicle of a Foreseeable Tragedy: Birds' Nests Management in the Niah Caves (Sarawak)},
  author={Quentin Gausset},
  journal={Human Ecology},
  year={2004},
  volume={32},
  pages={487-507}
}
  • Q. Gausset
  • Published 1 August 2004
  • Economics
  • Human Ecology
The number of birds' nests harvested in the Niah cave today is only a fraction of what it used to be. This article focuses on the socioeconomic causes of the decline. It argues that the present situation is not directly linked to the tragedy of the commons, since the ownership of cave and nests is private. The tragic aspect is, rather, linked to an attitude of free riding which was threatening the private system of ownership in the 1980s, and which forced Penan owners to lease their caves to… 
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