Environment

Many developing countries derive their wealth from their natural resource base. In many cases wise and sustainable use of natural resources can provide a foundation for economic growth, as well as a safety net for the rural poor during difficult times.  However natural resources are often over-exploited and badly managed in the attempt to generate economic growth. Excessive deforestation can reduce soil quality and increase the risk of flooding and landslides; mining can pollute rivers and ground water and have negative impacts on the health of local people, whilst over-fishing reduces the ability of fish stocks to regenerate. All this can have serious consequences for local people and their livelihoods, as well as negative long-term impacts on the economy.

The need to ensure the integrity of the natural environment is vital for the achievement of many of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). For example, women and girls who have ready access to fuel and clean water supplies, are likely to have better health and more time available to attend school. Addressing environmental issues is therefore critical, if we are to achieve sustained poverty reduction and meet the MDGs.

theIDLgroup believes that any well-considered development intervention requires three key elements:

1. Integrating environmental policies into wider pro-poor development objectives, policies and institutions;
2. Promoting understanding and appreciation of the contribution that the environment can make to growth; and
3. Linking global environmental issues to the local level where they affect poor people.

Selected Experience:

• Facilitation of an institutional centered Strategic Environmental Analysis (I-SEA) of the Kenya Forest Act;
• Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) and Country Environment Analysis (CEA) in Ghana; 
• Support to the Government of Vietnam’s national poverty environment programme.