The Anthropocene poses unique socio-ecological challenges as humans contend with preserving common pool resources (CPR) that provide vital ecosystem services (ESS) under increasing environmental stress. The Isle of Man (IoM) is a self-governing island (572 km2) in the Irish Sea with unique flora and fauna, diverse geology and strong cultural heritage. The IoM parliament, Tynwald, is the oldest in the world, having governed since CE 979. In 2016, the IoM was awarded status as a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve, which recognizes the priority the island has with their natural environment. The Isle of Man is the only entire nation in the world to have been awarded UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve status. The objective of this study is to gain insight to the social, economic and governmental dynamics that have contributed to CPR management on the IoM. We explored the co-ordination of community groups, corporate responsibility, environmental governance and decision-making to describe the framework which has fostered the IoM’s success.
Results/Conclusions
The IoM employs a variety of co-operative efforts to manage their CPR. As an island with a population of approximately 85,000, the IoM model of environmental governance and ecological management is largely driven by public priorities. Importantly, public participation in the environment is strong, with a beach cleaning charity (Beach Buddies) having over 10% of the island’s population participating in beach clean-ups, which is now extending to other areas with trash problems. This is, even more importantly, linked to an all-inclusive education programme which started in early 2017 with every school taking part in cleaning events, not just on beaches, but also in parks, playgrounds, footpaths, hiking trails and their own streets. The response has been exceptional and is now part of the education curriculum, with the idea now being used as the template to bring about significant changes in the entire United Kingdom education curriculum. Moreover, ecosystem management (fisheries and sustainable forests) and a regulatory monitoring framework highlight the science-based efforts of Tynwald. This study revealed that society’s regard for common pool resources (CPR) enhances ecosystem services (ESS), which is a model that could be scaled to larger socio-ecological systems.