Problems encountered when linking environmental management to development aid

Summary

Environmental management is defined as a mechanism for alleviating the worst of environmental damage and reducing the most unacceptable aspects of social inequalities but without really altering the patterns of political and economic power. It is now increasingly regarded as accepted practice in development partly because it is economically and socially counterproductive to ignore it. The purpose of the paper is to illustrate the difficulties involved in incorporating environmental management into economic growth with special reference to development assistance. Much environmental damage in the Third World is a product of the forces of development rather than the fault of the people, and in the past development assistance projects have often inadvertently led to environmental destruction and social distress. Case examples are given. The paper argues that among the many impediments to the full incorporation of environmental management into development are the following: the administrative structure of the agencies involved, suspicions in the past of receiving nation governments and the risky nature, and expensive labour intensity of programmes aimed at integrated rural development and appropriate technology. Some recommendations are advanced involving administrative reorganisation, new training skills and diplomacy, although no major breakthroughs are expected to come quickly.