The Natural Environment and Private Property

The concepts of the commons and the private property have, in the recent past, been of so much concern in the contemporary political as well as environmental sector.  In the common concept view, any natural property that does not privately belong to an individual is referred to as a common property. Such property rightly belongs to the whole public and should be respected by everyone as far as the law is concerned. Through the common aspect, many individuals have guard their short term selfish interests regarding the shared resources.  According to John Locke’s point of view, the common concept has led to various tragic dilemmas. Amongst these is the depletion of the natural resources by a few egocentric individuals.

The private property concept on the other hand is where an individual has all the rights pertaining to a commodity. The private property is therefore normally protected by the local sovereignty. In reference to the natural environment, the private property is regarded as the natural resources under an individual’s legal ownership. It should therefore be protected for the sake of environmental dignity.

In order to resolve the problem of private property, the court has employed various legal means. Amongst these is the conflict of laws policy which advocates for the preservation of the natural resources. Through this policy, destruction of any natural resource is termed as criminal and punishable by the court of law. The court of law has also put in place strict charges to safeguard all the natural resources. All criminals found guilty of committing offences related to the natural resources are normally charged heavily. The court has also ventured into the correct interpretation and implementation of the environmental law. Through this law, the repeated cases of environmental degradation have been reduced. The introductions of the environmental ethics have also been strictly enforced in the legal system to protect the atmosphere.