Balancing the Debate on Natural Resource Management

In the last century human settlement has become increasingly urban: almost half of the global population now resides in cities or towns - developed countries average over 70%. The shift has brought changes in the way land use and natural resource decisions are made. Some would argue that a growing urban voice has dominated environmental debate, influencing policy in rural areas without sufficient input from the people who inhabit those areas. Efforts are on the rise to give greater voice to rural residents.

Sir Peter Crane, director of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, London, speaking at the International Media and Environment Summit (Imes) in Kuching, Malaysia last year, stated that, "as more people live in cities, they set the agenda" (reported by the BBC). He cited as an example, the overpopulation of deer affecting rural areas of the US, because urban voters find culls objectionable.

Rural populations depend on urban markets as urban markets depend on the products of mining, forestry and agriculture. Many people cross the fuzzy line between urban and rural life. Low-income urban dwellers may take seasonal work on farms and rural residents may take jobs in town to supplement their incomes. Both populations are intrinsically linked in the global economy. For reasonable sustainable policy-making it is important that all parties be heard.

Governmental and non-governmental agencies have begun looking at ways to increase the input of rural residents in debates on natural resource management. The International Institute for Environment and Development, an international policy research institute working for more sustainable and equitable global development, has developed a set of "power tools" to help groups that have been excluded from the mainstream secure a position in the debate on natural resources.

Links

• Urban view ‘rules green debate’ from the BBC


• A Whole Earth View of the Environmental Movement an article by Peter Warshall from the Global Business Network, which gives a concise history of the development of the environmental movement


• Rural–Urban Linkages from the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED)


• Power tools: for policy influence in natural resource management a program developed by IIED


• About IIED agency information page from the International Institute for Environment and Development


• Regional Rural Policy: the National Picture a page from the Government Offices for the English Regions on the current policy agenda for rural areas in the UK


• The Growing Urbanization of the World a report on the Global Rural Urban Mapping Project from the Earth Institute at Columbia University


• Environmental Planning Model for Sustainable Rural Development a report on one rural community's experience using a collaborative environmental planning model to explore local issues

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 1:44 PM on January 26, 2006