Sustainable development in tropical forest ecosystems

SUMMARY

As an alternative to deforestation, nations with tropical forest ecosystems are experimenting with sustainable development methods. ‘Royal Development Projects’ underway in Thailand involve reforestation, new crop development, appropriate rural technologies, multicropping, forest preservation and alternative agriculture. Integrated resource management emulates natural resource patterns there. The Cousteau Society has drafted a development plan for Nayarit (Mexico) that identifies land suitability in the coastal zone for different types of development in order to minimize impacts on marine and terrestrial ecological communities. Under the plan, an Environmental Protection Council will serve as a ‘one-stop’ permitting agency and a Community Participation Committee will facilitate citizen involvement. In Papua New Guinea, established forestry practices involving rings of successively mature trees, and reef ownership based on ‘limited entry’ fishing are threatened by commercialization. These must be protected from encroachment for popular self-sufficiency to be preserved. In Bali, farmers use a temple-based system of water allocation and agriculture. This ancient, highly productive practice is being enhanced with the aid of modern computer technology. By fostering biodiversity and protecting the interests of future generations] sustainable development methods in Thailand, Nayarit, Papua New Guinea and Bali may provide models of land-use governance for the developed world.

Key words:

• sustainable development
• forestry
• multicropping
• land governance