Environmental Management and Economic Development (Electronic book text)

Environmental degradation threatens the productivity of agricultural and forest resources on which developing countries depend for their economic growth. The problem is most pervasive in the poorest countries, where poverty and population pressures compel people to deplete the natural resources to meet their immediate needs for survival. Forests are burned to make room for food crops, the soil is depleted when cow dung must be used for cooking fuel instead of fertilizer - and both the environment and prospects for economic betterment suffer. This volume shows clearly that much environmental damage is the result of either shortsighted policies or lack of knowledge, as when insecure land tenure, artificially low farm prices, and illiteracy keep farmers from practicing soil conservation. The authors analyze the relation between environmental factors and economic development and focus on how developing countries can protect and even improve their natural environment while continuing to improve the economic and so