Specific projects currently within this program area are:
ISET's
work on global change and natural resource management is documenting and
communicating to key policy and other audiences the fundamental changes now
occurring at local levels that determine the viability of different approaches
to addressing environmental concerns.
|
|
Internationally, most work on "globalization" by the
environmental community focuses on corporate accountability, multi-lateral
development bank reform and global institutions such as the World Trade
Organization. Throughout Asia, however, we are observing fundamental "globalization-related"
changes in community characteristics that directly influence why groups might or
might not form institutions to address environmental concerns. In many cases the
changes directly challenge the logic underlying community based approaches to
natural resource management, which are the foundations of many projects
supported by NGOs, governments and multi-lateral institutions.
In essence, global market dynamics and investment patterns are shifting
where people live and work and their willingness/ability to invest time and
energy in community initiatives to address common goals, such as natural
resource management. In many cases, families and individuals now depend on
external jobs for a significant portion of their income. Their livelihoods no
longer depend on local water or forest resources. Even where they remain
dependent, globalization has increased the need for natural resource users to be
able to respond rapidly to economic fluctuations. As a result, users are often
reluctant to invest time, energy, or resources in long-term management options
(for example, by purchasing a drip irrigation system or protecting a forest area).
Investments that are inflexible or have long-term returns are often
difficult for users to justify. Changes of this type are directly related to
globalization but they have little in common with the focus of attention in most
northern environmental organizations.
|
|
The above dynamics are poorly understood but clearly of fundamental
importance for attempts to resolve basic environmental concerns. Addressing them
will require far better understanding of global economic systems and how they
are reshaping settlement patterns, community structures and livelihoods. We
believe the starting point is to increase both our own understanding and that of
the larger policy community regarding the way global economic dynamics are
reshaping local livelihoods and incentives to manage natural resources.
