xperts have been arguing about the answers
to these questions for more than a decade. In that time, there has been
remarkably little consensus. One of the few points of agreement is the fundamental
notion that sustainable development must meet present economic needs in
an equitable fashion while safeguarding the Earth's natural heritage for
future generations.
But how do we achieve such sustainable development?
We decided to pose this question to nine experts from varied backgrounds:
an Arizona rancher, the president of Costa Rica, two Nature Conservancy
officials, the vice president of a Fortune 500 company, a Canadian indigenous-rights
activist, an official from an international development bank, an American
economist and the head of a California-based pharmaceutical firm.Specifically, we asked each of them to respond in 200
or fewer words to the question: How can we ensure economic prosperity and
protect the environment at the same time? Their answers reflect both their
own viewpoints and experiences, and-we hope-the variety of opinion that
exists in the world at large on this subject.There is no single correct response to this or any other
query about sustainable development. But, to paraphrase an old German proverb,
to ask a question is the beginning of wisdom.
As I witness the "Great Canadian Diamond Rush"
in the Arctic tundra, I wonder if the people on whose traditional territory
the "rush" is taking place - the Dogribs and the Yellow-knives
- will benefit or even get jobs. If aboriginal people prosper economically
and the North is still able to maintain the traditional economies that are
directly dependent on healthy wildlife and environment, it would be a worthy
example. Are there basic ideas that could help in these situations?Last year I chaired a World Conservation Union task
force for indigenous peoples. The ideas put forward by this volunteer group
of indigenous peoples from different parts of the world could help. The
group demonstrated examples of commitment by indigenous communities to cross-cultural
partnerships and local strategies, but stated that "the conservation
element cannot be separated out from the integrated claims of indigenous
peoples relating to self-determination, rights to lands, the right to control
land and manage resource use and wildlife."The majority of aboriginal peoples in Canada and Australia
and parts of the United States have never known the meaning of economic
prosperity in modern times, only economic survival. Yet these same people
retain ancient cultural practices that could save the Earth. By allowing
or nurturing the empowerment of indigenous peoples, industrial society could
empower itself to regain the balance of environment and economy - thus addressing
prosperity for all peoples. Our country has achieved remarkable environmental progress
in the past 25 years. At the same time, U.S. industry expanded to keep pace
in an increasingly competitive global economy. Such history reminds us that
the environment and the economy are interdependent. To continue our progress
on both fronts into the 21st century, sustainable development must become
part of our culture and ethic.Sustainable development needs to be a broad, national
strategy that fosters environmental and economic vitality. It is a social
and business imperative for change. It challenges industry to initiate environmental
strategies, not simply comply with mandates. It challenges industry to focus
and commit to pollution prevention.At the core of sustainable development is the search
for a new regulatory system to rise above command and control policies.
Instead, the paths to concurrent economic and environmental progress are
voluntary actions, market incentives, partnerships and consensus building.
Decisions built on consensus are more effective than those fed by confrontation.In our landscape [the rural Southwest] cattle ranching
traditionally has sustained the people. For ranching to be sustainable,
we have to protect the natural resources. If the resources-grass and water-are
not there, we're gone in a hurry. So I usually find that a good pasture
environment for cattle is also good for wildlife habitat. The key to keeping
ranching sustainable is marrying good science with practical, on-the-ground
knowledge of the land. This is what the Malpai group is trying to do- find
out what endangered species live in our project area, why they're there,
what could negatively impact them, and what we can do to enrich them.Armed with that knowledge, people themselves decide
what they are going to do on their own land to protect the habitat. It can't
be done on a centralized basis-it's not "one size fits all."There are other possibilities for open-space livelihoods
- like ecotour-ism and recreational activities - and we shouldn't close
our minds to those. But I think agriculture is always going to be here,
so you have to start with that. We must act locally. While some planetary problems such
as greenhouse gasses must be addressed via global agreements, and while
the "global economy" causes large macroeconomic influences, ultimately
the solutions for sustainability must come place-by-place, at the local
ecosystem and community level.Experience shows that the keys to success are local
leadership and institutions, working together over time towards a common
vision. The array of partners includes: (1) a local land conservation organization,
such as The Nature Conservancy; (2) a broadly based citizens group pursuing
conservation, community and economic development; (3) local government working
cooperatively with the other groups; (4) an institute or other entity conducting
applied research on diverse issues, as well as measuring success; and (5)
a sustainable development corporation helping to launch compatible businesses
and create jobs.Using this approach, the Conservancy is demonstrating
on the Virginia Eastern Shore and elsewhere that environmental protection
and economic development are not mutually exclusive goals. Our task ahead
is to probe out the new models for ecosystem conservation and sustainable
development; to replicate the successful approaches with local adaptations;
and to share our experience with other conservation practitioners and community
leaders. The only way we are to ensure economic prosperity and
protect the environment is to work directly with the local and indigenous
people who inhabit the biodiversity-rich areas of this planet. There is
no way that any conservation organization, development agency or private
for-profit institution can possibly ensure the protection of the environment
without working directly with the people who live there.Alternatives for income generation must be created by
utilizing knowledge and intelligence from the fields of ethnobiology, ecology,
sociology, medicine, anthropology and regular dialogue with the historical
managers of biocultural diversity. The entire process of managing the environment
must he re-engineered to incorporate at every phase the values, perspectives
and basic needs of local and indigenous people. The general public, environmentalists,
scientists and development professionals must create effective means of
discussion with the people who have some of the most detailed knowledge
about the subtleties of the Earth's diverse ecosystems. Commerce, trade
and sustainable development activities must have well-constructed criteria
on which to design, implement and manage the utilization and protection
of the environment. Shaman Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has embraced from the outset
the importance of this approach.The path of economic progress must shift from the growth
mode (quantitative increase in the resource throughput) to the development
mode (qualitative improvement in the efficiency of use of an environmentally
sustainable throughput). That is what "sustainable development"
must come to mean - i.e., more efficient digestion, not a bigger digestive
tract. The total resource throughput is presently at a scale that is not
sustainable - i.e., to maintain the current throughput flow we have to deplete
natural capital stocks, and that will make us poorer in the future.The total throughput of resources is equal to the per
capita throughput times population. This provides the basis for a North/South
bargain in which the North limits mainly its consumption (but also its fertility),
while the South limits mainly it fertility (but also the consumption of
its elites). Without such a bargain it is too easy for the North to say,
"Why save resources if they will just be used to support more people
in the South at the same level of misery?"- and for the South to reply,
"Why limit population if the resources saved will just be gobbled up
by Northern overconsumption?"This question is outdated. In building the concept of
sustainable development, it was clearly established that economic development
and environmental protection are indissoluble elements of the same equation.
We also know what is necessary to be done and also, for most of the issues,
how to do it.The fundamental constraint to achieving sustainable
development is social inequity and its associated evils: poverty and ignorance.
While most humans must live without choices and almost without hopes, a
minority of humans are fiercely resisting the concessions which may provide
to the entire world a solid basis for a harmonious relationship among humans
and nature.Currently, the rich nations and rich people are avoiding
the real problem mostly by pressuring the poor nations and the poor people
to follow the rules they know are necessary for survival. Even more, in
some ways, because it is good business, the rich are taking advantage of
environmental matters to become richer. This situation translates into very
little progress in two key subjects: equity and environment.The only hope for a change is that, sooner or later,
even the richest in the world will he affected by social and environmental
degradation. Therefore, as always in the past, reason will be imposed by
despair and not as a timely, progressive and voluntary decision.Forty-five years ago, our country took a bold step forward
in abolishing the We defined sustainable development for ourselves as
the combination of three elements:
For many years, there has been much talk about sustainable
development and how we should do it. Here is an opportunity to put the talk
into action, and we invite you to be our partners. In a small country with
a small population, with people who already have an awareness of sustainable
development, and with a democratically elected government which has made
it its centerpiece of action, there's no excuse not to make Costa Rica a
true example of sustainable development. There are no cost-free feats of legerdemain to spring
us from the contradictions inherent in promoting both economic development
and environmental conservation. Through their actions, humans are increasingly
becoming dominating ecological actors and virtually all human development
is done at an ecological cost. Recognizing these costs sets the stage for
evaluating what are acceptable compromises between economic development
and conservation.If you equate environmental conservation with biodiversity
conservation, then there are at least two sets of compromises that can be
discussed. First, biodiversity can be discussed in terms of its different
components: genes, species, higher taxa, communities and ecosystems. Virtually
all land-use systems, if properly managed and configured, can conserve at
least one of these components. Second, spatial scale is a vital factor to
consider, in that development activities affect ecological systems at different
scales. By integrating across these two factors, those components of biodiversity
negatively affected by development in a given land-use system can be conserved
in adjacent land use types, producing a varied landscape that both produces
and conserves.If we do not make explicit recognition of the environmental
costs of development, those cost-free solutions that seem so attractive
now will disappear like the Cheshire cat, leaving only an insubstantial
cold promise. Readers may contact The Nature Conseervancy by writing to: 1815 North
Lynn Street, Arlington, VA 22209, or phoning (703) 841-5300.
