Matsigenka agriculture, Manu Biosphere Reserve, Peru

Arable land among the Matsigenka is a public good (Ostrom 2005: 24). At base the Matsigenka do not have institutions that regulate who can access arable land. Anyone who has been incorporated into a community has the right to access arable land. The only requirement before opening up a new field is that people must state their intent. This practice decreases the probability of clearing a plot of land that someone else was planning to clear. In short, use of arable land does not affect the availability of land for other (subtractability is low) and it is difficult indeed antisocial to attempt to exclude a household from using arable land.