Could increasing western style environmentalism commit millions to poverty and homelessness?
As soon as I’ve completed our move overseas Wildlife News will be starting a grassroots community campaign to help local communities understand the value of balanced and sustainable development. While unfettered industrial and commercial development can be damaging, it’s also just as damaging for a society to follow an unchallenged environmental and conservation pathway.
The world needs a balanced economy not a biased one.
Increasingly western style environmental and wildlife organisations are trying to restrict the economic development of developing countries. This can be quite damaging to those countries as they try and provide homes and jobs for their citizens and take them out of real poverty. At the moment some of the claims made by these organisations are going unchallenged and are being accepted at face value as being beneficial.
We all know the dangers of unrestricted commercial development – degraded environment and a polluted landscape. Commercial exploitation is very much ‘in your face’ and easy to see. As such it’s very easy for the ‘green’ movement to take advantage and exploit communities lack of understanding of what could happen if commercial development in stopped.
The costs of environmental idealism.
The social disadvantages of environmentalism and conservation are still very real though much harder to define and see – unless you know what to look for. The UK is suffering the consequences of unchallenged environmental idealism. It has led to:
- increased social breakdown – especially in rural areas where young people are forced out of their communities and into cities for both housing and jobs,
- increased homelessness – as homes for mice become more important than homes for people,
- increased indebtedness – as the building of homes stops and cost of buying or renting homes reach record levels due to shortages,
- increased poverty – especially among the poor and old as green groups continue to call for ever higher taxes on fuel as prices reach record highs,
- increased hunger – as green groups push for ever higher welfare standards forcing the price of some basic foods up and beyond the reach of the poor.
- increased social exclusion – especially among young people without education as increased costs through green regulations shuts down traditional industries and so reduces employment chances,
- promotes elitism – as the wealthy can use the laws to protect and enhance their lives while the poor can not afford to respond.
If the same environmental and conservation policies in place in the UK was imposed on developing nations then it would commit millions of people to hunger, poverty and homelessness.
Futures for All will work for balanced sustainable development.
Our new Futures for All campaign will work at community level to give local people the power to make an informed choice. Our new campaign will seek to work with schools and groups in highlighting the problems of going to both extremes.
As with all things in life the best way forward is usually in between the two extremes and requires compromise on both sides. The world has a growing population that needs to be housed and fed – this means land will have to be turned over to development for food, jobs and housing. But we can do a lot to mitigate the effects of that development – low impact and low carbon housing for instance.
New web portal offering discussion and resources for community activists.
Over the coming months we’ll be preparing a new web site that will offer help and advice to community activists who want to see the lives of their community improved in a sustainable way. We’ll offer a chance for activists to discuss ways of challenging both big developments and programmes that will halt development in their areas.
We’re going to be putting together a range of educational tools for teachers to be able to use in the classroom to be able to examine both sides of the argument. there will also be a special section set aside were we will be highlighting the latest relevant scientific and social research. There will also be a section on the best and worst claims coming from both commerce and green groups – such as turning down a housing development to stop potential buyers from going for a walk in local woods.
Developing nations should protect economic growth for their children.
The developing nations are in an ideal position to be able to leapfrog the dirty technologies of industry. China is leading the way in low impact housing for it’s people. The lives of most people in developing nations are improving as they become more affluent. The way to keep this momentum is by balanced sustainable development. They have to be very careful not to follow the west in taking on unquestioned green policies which will commit the next generation to no future. Unquestioned green policies in the UK have committed a generation to homelessness, high debts, high prices, limited job opportunities and falling standards of living – the developing world should not make the same mistake.
Get involved with our new campaign.
If you’d like to get involved in our new grassroots campaign for balanced and sustainable development then sign up for our newsletter below. As soon as the new web site is launched your contact details will automatically be transferred across to the new web site.
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httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrvR9vYf7WA
Related books:
[amazon_link id="1844074544" target="_blank" ]Understanding Sustainable Development[/amazon_link]
[amazon_link id="1853832413" target="_blank" ]Sustainable Development: An Introductory Guide[/amazon_link]
[amazon_link id="0470718722" target="_blank" ]Sustainable Development in Practice: Case Studies for Engineers and Scientists[/amazon_link]
[amazon_link id="1906837139" target="_blank" ]Prosperity with Principles: Some Policies for Economic Growth[/amazon_link]
