UN Population Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs,
with support from the UN Population Fund (UNFPA)
|
| UN Population Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, with support from the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) |
|
"ICPD 94", No. 12
February 1994
Newsletter of the International Conference on Population and
Development
Cairo, Egypt, 5-13 September 1994
REPORT DETAILS THE POVERTY-POPULATION-ENVIRONMENT NEXUS
Better understanding of the interaction between population and the
environment is a key ICPD objective. In a number of developing
countries, the rapidly growing number of impoverished people is a
key factor in environmental degradation due to urban expansion,
deforestation and cultivation of marginal lands. Unsustainable
patterns of consumption by more affluent groups in both developed
and developing countries constitute another crucial factor in
degradation of the global environment. In both instances, the
quality of life, particularly that of the poor, is negatively
affected.
Some 35 experts from around the world examined these issues at
a Round Table on Population, Environment and Sustainable
Development in the Post-UNCED Period, held at the International
Academy of the Environment in Geneva from 24-26 November 1993 (see
"ICPD 94", January 1994). The starting point for their discussion
and recommendations was a report on five regions that face serious
environmental degradation and resource depletion, compounded by
poverty and population pressures.
"Issues in Sustainable Development: Population, Poverty and
the Environment" was written for the round table by Mary Barberis
of the Population Reference Bureau, a non-governmental organization
based in Washington, D.C. She summarizes a wide range of research
literature analysing environmental conditions in the five regions -
- the Bay of Bengal; the forested uplands of Indonesia, Nepal, the
Philippines and Thailand; the forests of Central America; the arid
regions of Sub-Saharan Africa; and the small island states in the
South Pacific -- describing the major ways that human activity and
growing populations impact on natural resources in each.
The report shows how human environmental pressure "is most
intense when combined with poverty, since the poor have higher
birth rates and very often are forced by immediate need into short-
sighted, environmentally unsustainable management of resources." It
examines such contributing factors as inappropriate farming and
soil management techniques, unequal access to resources, and
government policies that effectively subsidize environmentally
unsound practices.
In densely populated Bangladesh, for example, urban growth is
three times the national population growth rate; most is occurring
in poor areas, compounding already serious problems of water
supply, drainage, solid waste disposal and sanitation. Urban
discharges, untreated industrial effluents, and fertilizer washed
from farmland are contaminating rivers and marine fisheries.
Exploitation of groundwater supplies is increasing salinization and
causing the land to subside, making the country more vulnerable to
sealevel rise.
The country's mangrove forests, a major economic resource base
and a rich source of biodiversity, are threatened by increased
harvesting of wood, aggravating flooding and soil erosion. The
expansion of land under cultivation is damaging sensitive coastal
ecosystems. All these processes bear a direct relationship to
population growth.
Deforestation in the Asian tropics, the report demonstrates,
is also integrally linked to population growth (although the
precise relationship is the subject of much debate). In particular,
the construction of logging roads provides access to poor farmers,
ranchers and miners. Besides adopting policies that encourage
logging, Governments have in some cases subsidized frontier
settlement, for example by promoting cash crops like ginger for
export.
As elsewhere, in Northeast Thailand, "the country's poorest
and most populous region, clearing forest to acquire agricultural
land continues to be the most attractive alternative for most new
entrants into the labour force, because it requires no cash or
special skills. In addition, population growth has forced shifting
cultivators to return to their plots more often, thus reducing the
land's fallow cycle and accelerating degradation."
In the Philippines, population growth and inequality in access
to land has led to increased settlement of upland areas, while
expanding demand for fuelwood has resulted in greater forest
harvesting. In Nepal, deforestation is linked to soil depletion and
reduced agricultural productivity.
Central America's forests are similarly threatened. With much
of the best farmland being taken over by expanding plantations or
urban areas, the landless are increasingly settling on forested
land, aided by a growing network of roads. Land tenure policies
provide an incentive for clearing this land, but there is little
support for sustainable agricultural practices. Consequently, the
land is quickly exhausted and is often sold to ranchers raising
cattle for the North American market.
Desertification in Sub-Saharan Africa, while not well
understood, is also evidently linked to human abuse of the land
under rising population pressure. Fragile land is being cropped
more frequently, reducing fallow periods. Escalating demand for
fuelwood and charcoal has produced expanding rings of deforestation
around cities. Aquifer levels are falling amid growing competition
for scarce water resources. Conflict between herders and farmers is
increasing as each group has migrated to the other's lands.
Finally, the report details the contribution of population to
growing environmental damage in the small island states of the
South Pacific. On the islets of South Tarawa in Kiribati, for
instance, excess demand for clean water is depleting groundwater;
water contamination from raw sewage is compounding the problem. In
Tonga, urban growth has resulted in the clearing of mangroves.
Pollution and harmful fishing and mining practices are damaging
coral reefs and threatening biodiversity.
"The perspective that emerges from this review," the author
summarizes, "is that to focus on population growth as the scapegoat
for all environmental ills can distract attention from other
matters that demand urgent action, such as the need for land
reform, poverty alleviation, waste reduction and improved
technologies. But to ignore population growth would be to miss one
of the most important driving forces, both immediate and long-term,
behind many aspects of the current environmental crisis. The
magnitude of population impacts on the environment is significant
enough to justify efforts to slow population growth as part of an
overall strategy to save the environment."
"Issues in Sustainable Development: Population, Poverty and
the Environment" is available in limited quantities from the
International Academy of the Environment, Chemin de Conches 4,
Geneva, Swizerland; tel: 41 (22) 789 13 11; fax: 41 (22) 789 25 38.
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For printed or electronic copies of the "ICPD 94" newsletter, in
English, French or Spanish, or further information, please
contact:
ICPD Secretariat 220 E. 42nd Street, 22nd floor
New York, N.Y. 10017, USA
Tel: (212) 297-5244/5245
Media contact: (212) 297-5023/5030 or 5279
Fax: (212) 297-5250
E-mail: ryanw@unfpa.org or icpd@igc.apc.org
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