Bhopal, Oct 25: With the objective of promoting biodiversity, the Madhya Pradesh Council Of Science and Technology (MPCOST) will establish Centres of Excellence in the state. ''The centres -- whose setting up coincides with completion of MPCOST's silver jubilee -- will serve as a medium for enhancing scientific efficiency, technical capability, quality control, according priority to work relating to medicinal and aromatic herbs,'' MPCOST Working Committee Chairman Mahesh Sharma told reporters here today.
The conclusion of the jubilee year would be marked by a three-day Indian Science Conference to get underway here on November 23. The October 27 meeting of MPCOST's Permanent Committee would provide final shape to Conference programmes. A Youth Science Conference is also on the cards.
''Decisions were taken to constitute a Madhya Pradesh Science and Technology Network for MPCOST's statewide expansion, make the Council's Remote-Sensing Centre more effective, initiating programmes for improving MPCOST activities and recruiting scientists,'' Dr Sharma added.
The centres would focus on special skill upgradation of students, youth, farmers, craftspersons and women in the unorganised sector. In three months, MPCOST intends to create a network with two other agencies.
''The Remote-Sensing Centre has begun working on a project affiliated to the Indian Space Research Organisation and on schemes related to the state government's Education, Public Health, Tourism, Environment and Housing departments. Through the medium of the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, the Remote-Sensing Centre has taken up a programme for improving potable water sources,'' Dr Sharma explained. Data was prepared on 80,000 of the state's total four lakh sources and a Telemedicine Scheme prepared.
Monday, October 29, 2007
Biofuels Damaging Ecosystems And Biodiversity
LONDON (Dow Jones)--Increased demand for biofuels, along with other agricultural commodities, is resulting in ecosystem degradation and biodiversity loss, said the U.N. Thursday.
Expansion of the agricultural industry, including the rise in land used for biofuel production, could impact particularly negatively on ecosystems supporting poor populations, according to the U.N.'s Global Environment Outlook 4 report.
With the world population forecast to grow to over 9 billion by 2050, food production will need to increase significantly to meet demand, the report said, noting the conflict between agricultural commodity demands for both food and fuel.
However, the U.N. was not particularly optimistic about any near-term relief to the food versus fuel tension or technology developments within inedible biofuel sources.
"Forest products and the nonfood cellulose component of food crops have a huge potential as an energy source, but technologies are still too costly to compete with fossil fuels at current prices," said the report.
Expansion of the agricultural industry, including the rise in land used for biofuel production, could impact particularly negatively on ecosystems supporting poor populations, according to the U.N.'s Global Environment Outlook 4 report.
With the world population forecast to grow to over 9 billion by 2050, food production will need to increase significantly to meet demand, the report said, noting the conflict between agricultural commodity demands for both food and fuel.
However, the U.N. was not particularly optimistic about any near-term relief to the food versus fuel tension or technology developments within inedible biofuel sources.
"Forest products and the nonfood cellulose component of food crops have a huge potential as an energy source, but technologies are still too costly to compete with fossil fuels at current prices," said the report.
Drought Can Destroy Biodiversity
Tue Oct 23
The skimmer and swimmer critters in ponds dried out by drought end up looking the same as each other when waters return, causing a decline in biodiversity, a new study finds.
In worst-case outcomes, drops in biodiversity—the variety and number of species, in a given locale can lead to more serious consequences, such as resulting in ecosystem collapses that affect the web of life and food that supports all animals and humans.
Scientists are more interested than ever in the effects of extreme climate swings, such as prolonged drought, because the computer models predict wilder extremes as one effect of the climate change now underway.
To learn how drought affects pond life, Jonathan Chase, an ecologist at Washington University in St. Louis, imposed drought conditions on 20 artificial ponds and investigated how the harsh conditions affected the species counts and varieties.
Each pond community had the same environmental conditions, but Chase varied the timing of the introduction of species, such as dragonflies, water-bugs, frogs, water fowl and algae, before letting the species naturally flourish.
As the communities began to thrive, the species took hold to varying extents pond by pond, with some harboring only 10 to 20 percent of species in common. Some of the variation was due to plants being randomly introduced as they fell from the feathers of a duck, for example.
After pond communities established themselves, Chase imposed the drought conditions on half. When those ponds were allowed to recover from drought and life moved back in, their species content looked much more similar to each other.
“Drought homogenizes the variance among communities,” Chase said. “It takes all these communities that used to be very different from each other and makes them very similar to each other.”
Why? Because certain species are much hardier than others and are quicker to re-establish themselves once the drought subsides.
"When it comes to drought, there are wimpy species and hardy species," Chase said. "Several types of zooplankton, many water-bugs and some frogs are the hardy ones. A wimpy species, perhaps surprisingly, is the bullfrog. Their tadpoles require two years to grow, so they often don’t rebound very well from drought. “
Zooplankton deposit their eggs in mud, so they lay low until waters return, whereas frogs leave the pond when it dries up. Algae and a few plant species that make lots of seeds also weather droughts fairly well, Chase said.
His study, detailed in the Oct. 15 issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, establishes an important distinction between local biodiversity (in one pond) and regional diversity (between several ponds), the latter of which is often overlooked, Chase said.
“I found drought had less than a 10-percent reduction on local diversity, but a nearly 50-percent reduction on regional diversity," Chase said. "This is important because if you just count the number of species in any given pond you might say that drought had little effect on species diversity. But if you take exact data and you ask: 'Did drought affect regional diversity?' I found it had a huge effect on regional diversity.”
The skimmer and swimmer critters in ponds dried out by drought end up looking the same as each other when waters return, causing a decline in biodiversity, a new study finds.
In worst-case outcomes, drops in biodiversity—the variety and number of species, in a given locale can lead to more serious consequences, such as resulting in ecosystem collapses that affect the web of life and food that supports all animals and humans.
Scientists are more interested than ever in the effects of extreme climate swings, such as prolonged drought, because the computer models predict wilder extremes as one effect of the climate change now underway.
To learn how drought affects pond life, Jonathan Chase, an ecologist at Washington University in St. Louis, imposed drought conditions on 20 artificial ponds and investigated how the harsh conditions affected the species counts and varieties.
Each pond community had the same environmental conditions, but Chase varied the timing of the introduction of species, such as dragonflies, water-bugs, frogs, water fowl and algae, before letting the species naturally flourish.
As the communities began to thrive, the species took hold to varying extents pond by pond, with some harboring only 10 to 20 percent of species in common. Some of the variation was due to plants being randomly introduced as they fell from the feathers of a duck, for example.
After pond communities established themselves, Chase imposed the drought conditions on half. When those ponds were allowed to recover from drought and life moved back in, their species content looked much more similar to each other.
“Drought homogenizes the variance among communities,” Chase said. “It takes all these communities that used to be very different from each other and makes them very similar to each other.”
Why? Because certain species are much hardier than others and are quicker to re-establish themselves once the drought subsides.
"When it comes to drought, there are wimpy species and hardy species," Chase said. "Several types of zooplankton, many water-bugs and some frogs are the hardy ones. A wimpy species, perhaps surprisingly, is the bullfrog. Their tadpoles require two years to grow, so they often don’t rebound very well from drought. “
Zooplankton deposit their eggs in mud, so they lay low until waters return, whereas frogs leave the pond when it dries up. Algae and a few plant species that make lots of seeds also weather droughts fairly well, Chase said.
His study, detailed in the Oct. 15 issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, establishes an important distinction between local biodiversity (in one pond) and regional diversity (between several ponds), the latter of which is often overlooked, Chase said.
“I found drought had less than a 10-percent reduction on local diversity, but a nearly 50-percent reduction on regional diversity," Chase said. "This is important because if you just count the number of species in any given pond you might say that drought had little effect on species diversity. But if you take exact data and you ask: 'Did drought affect regional diversity?' I found it had a huge effect on regional diversity.”
Parasites A Key To The Decline Of Red Colobus Monkeys In Forest Fragments
Oct. 28, 2007) — Forest fragmentation threatens biodiversity, often causing declines or local extinctions in a majority of species while enhancing the prospects of a few. A new study from the University of Illinois shows that parasites can play a pivotal role in the decline of species in fragmented forests. This is the first study to look at how forest fragmentation increases the burden of infectious parasites on animals already stressed by disturbances to their habitat.
The study, of black-and-white colobus monkeys and red colobus monkeys in tropical forests in western Uganda, appears in the American Journal of Primatology.
Once dominated by vast forests, Uganda now has less than one-twentieth of its original forest cover. According to the World Resources Institute, its tropical forests are being logged and converted to agricultural land at a rate that outpaces sub-Saharan Africa as a whole. Small tracts remain, however, hemmed in by pastures and croplands. Many of the species that thrived in the original forests are struggling to survive in these parcels, which can be as small as one hectare in size.
“In Uganda, just looking at the primates, it’s one of the most biodiverse places on the earth,” said professor of pathobiology Thomas Gillespie, principal investigator on the study. “You’ve got 12 to 13 species of primates in a core undisturbed forest. But if you go into these forest fragments, you’ll find only three or four species of primates.”
Populations of black-and-white colobus monkeys appear to be stable in the Ugandan forest remnants, while their cousins, the red colobus monkeys, are in decline.
Gillespie and his colleague, Colin Chapman, of McGill University in Montreal, surveyed 20 forest fragments near the western boundary of Kibale National Park, in western Uganda.
They compared the abundance, variety and density of potentially harmful parasites in these fragments to the undisturbed “core forest” of the park.
The researchers followed the monkeys for four years, collecting data on how far the animals ranged, what they ate and which parasites were infecting them.
In those four years, red colobus populations in forest fragments declined 20 percent, whereas populations of black-and-white colobus monkeys remained relatively stable. Both species maintained stable populations in the undisturbed forest.
Scientists have struggled to explain why closely related animals, like these two species of monkeys, can fare so differently in forest fragments. The answer, Gillespie said, lies in a complex interplay of factors, with parasites and nutrition playing key roles.
The researchers focused on two nematodes known to cause significant pathology in monkeys: a whipworm, (Trichuris sp.), and a nodule worm (Oesophagostomum sp.). While feeding on leaves, the monkeys ingest the larval forms of these worms. The larvae mature in the intestines, where they can cause blockages or other damage. The nematodes migrate through blood vessels, causing inflammation, organ damage and, sometimes, death.
The researchers found a higher density of parasites in the forest fragments than in the undisturbed forest. They also found new parasites not seen in the undisturbed forest.
“Several of the parasites in these animals in the fragments never occur in undisturbed forest, and some of these novel parasites are definitely from livestock or people,” Gillespie said. The red colobus monkeys were infected with five of these human or livestock parasites; the black and white colobus carried only two.
Other differences between the two species affect their vulnerability to parasitic infection. Red colobus monkeys congregate and live in large groups, with up to 50 members, compared with about 10 members in the black-and-white groups. Red colobus monkeys eat a much more varied diet. This causes them to travel farther, searching for the foods they need. But many of the plants that make up their diet simply aren’t available in disturbed forest fragments.
“The red colobus typically eat 40 to 50 species of plants, but in these forest fragments we might only have 12 tree species, so there’s a dramatic reduction in what we typically would see them feed on,” Gillespie said.
“The black-and-white colobus tend to feed on whatever’s dominant. They make do with what’s there.”
The black-and-white colobus monkeys’ ability to eat well under a variety of circumstances enhances their ability to withstand parasitic infections, Gillespie said.
Red colobus monkeys’ travels bring them into contact with more parasites. Their compromised nutritional status also weakens them, giving parasites the edge, Gillespie said.
“We asked how parasitism plays into this dynamic of some species doing well and others not doing well after forest fragmentation,” Gillespie said. “This is giving us a new window into what’s happening.”
The study, of black-and-white colobus monkeys and red colobus monkeys in tropical forests in western Uganda, appears in the American Journal of Primatology.
Once dominated by vast forests, Uganda now has less than one-twentieth of its original forest cover. According to the World Resources Institute, its tropical forests are being logged and converted to agricultural land at a rate that outpaces sub-Saharan Africa as a whole. Small tracts remain, however, hemmed in by pastures and croplands. Many of the species that thrived in the original forests are struggling to survive in these parcels, which can be as small as one hectare in size.
“In Uganda, just looking at the primates, it’s one of the most biodiverse places on the earth,” said professor of pathobiology Thomas Gillespie, principal investigator on the study. “You’ve got 12 to 13 species of primates in a core undisturbed forest. But if you go into these forest fragments, you’ll find only three or four species of primates.”
Populations of black-and-white colobus monkeys appear to be stable in the Ugandan forest remnants, while their cousins, the red colobus monkeys, are in decline.
Gillespie and his colleague, Colin Chapman, of McGill University in Montreal, surveyed 20 forest fragments near the western boundary of Kibale National Park, in western Uganda.
They compared the abundance, variety and density of potentially harmful parasites in these fragments to the undisturbed “core forest” of the park.
The researchers followed the monkeys for four years, collecting data on how far the animals ranged, what they ate and which parasites were infecting them.
In those four years, red colobus populations in forest fragments declined 20 percent, whereas populations of black-and-white colobus monkeys remained relatively stable. Both species maintained stable populations in the undisturbed forest.
Scientists have struggled to explain why closely related animals, like these two species of monkeys, can fare so differently in forest fragments. The answer, Gillespie said, lies in a complex interplay of factors, with parasites and nutrition playing key roles.
The researchers focused on two nematodes known to cause significant pathology in monkeys: a whipworm, (Trichuris sp.), and a nodule worm (Oesophagostomum sp.). While feeding on leaves, the monkeys ingest the larval forms of these worms. The larvae mature in the intestines, where they can cause blockages or other damage. The nematodes migrate through blood vessels, causing inflammation, organ damage and, sometimes, death.
The researchers found a higher density of parasites in the forest fragments than in the undisturbed forest. They also found new parasites not seen in the undisturbed forest.
“Several of the parasites in these animals in the fragments never occur in undisturbed forest, and some of these novel parasites are definitely from livestock or people,” Gillespie said. The red colobus monkeys were infected with five of these human or livestock parasites; the black and white colobus carried only two.
Other differences between the two species affect their vulnerability to parasitic infection. Red colobus monkeys congregate and live in large groups, with up to 50 members, compared with about 10 members in the black-and-white groups. Red colobus monkeys eat a much more varied diet. This causes them to travel farther, searching for the foods they need. But many of the plants that make up their diet simply aren’t available in disturbed forest fragments.
“The red colobus typically eat 40 to 50 species of plants, but in these forest fragments we might only have 12 tree species, so there’s a dramatic reduction in what we typically would see them feed on,” Gillespie said.
“The black-and-white colobus tend to feed on whatever’s dominant. They make do with what’s there.”
The black-and-white colobus monkeys’ ability to eat well under a variety of circumstances enhances their ability to withstand parasitic infections, Gillespie said.
Red colobus monkeys’ travels bring them into contact with more parasites. Their compromised nutritional status also weakens them, giving parasites the edge, Gillespie said.
“We asked how parasitism plays into this dynamic of some species doing well and others not doing well after forest fragmentation,” Gillespie said. “This is giving us a new window into what’s happening.”
Biodiversity takes a hit
October 28, 2007
Wildfires last week have engulfed nearly 360,000 acres of the county, burning the life out of plants and animals that help make the region a jewel of biological diversity.
Massive blazes also render the land less hospitable for humans by increasing the likelihood of future wildfires, debris flows, erosion and water pollution.
“These fires are a staggering tragedy for both people and nature,” said David Hogan of San Diego, a conservation manager for the Center for Biological Diversity, a national environmental group.
“This may be the last straw for endangered species that have already suffered so much habitat loss to development and overly frequent fire.”
Native chaparral and coastal sage scrub in the overlapping burn zones may not recover in time to prevent the spread of fast-growing, non-native grasses. The areas were home to most of San Diego County's more than 40 species listed as threatened or endangered by the federal government.
In addition, grasslands are more vulnerable to wildfires than healthy coastal sage scrub and chaparral. A carelessly tossed cigarette is more likely to ignite the exotic invading grasses than it would the native chaparral.
“The backcountry is converting to a simpler, more weedy, less beautiful landscape than the California most of us moved into,” said Wayne Spencer of the Conservation Biology Institute in Encinitas.
A similar pattern has played out across the West, with virtually every state in the region having to battle the problem.
In areas such as eastern Oregon and the Rockies, native plants repeatedly burned by wildfires cannot regain a foothold because cheat grass and other invaders quickly move in and dominate the terrain.
“It's widespread and it does seem to be increasing,” said Christopher Dionigi, assistant director of the National Invasive Species Council in Washington, D.C.
Russian thistle Even before the latest inferno began Sunday, drought had taken a toll on many of San Diego County's native plants. The dry conditions killed scores of oak trees and allowed bark beetles to finish off weakened pines.
Contrary to popular thought, Southern California is not a desert. Shrubland, a mix of sage scrub and chaparral, is the native landscape for much of the region between the Pacific shoreline and the foothills of coastal mountains.
For instance, nearly 90 percent of the Cleveland National Forest is shrubland rather than coniferous forest.
California has about 8.6 million acres of chaparral, but that figure is declining rapidly. From 1946 to 1987, 1.5 million acres were lost because of urban expansion, ranching and wildfires.
Likewise, development and agriculture have reduced coastal sage scrub to less than 15 percent of its expanse when California became a state.
Coastal sage and chaparral have adapted to withstand periodic fires of 20 to 60 years apart. In fact, the seeds of several native plants need fire and smoke to prepare them to germinate.
“Chaparral requires roughly 20 years or more to recover from a fire to be able to withstand a repeat fire,” said Jon Keeley, a fire ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey near Fresno.
“The native vegetation typically doesn't recover once it has been taken over by alien grasses.”
Researchers studying the aftermath of the 2003 Cedar fire said pines and other trees in Rancho Cuyamaca State Park are not returning as quickly as originally anticipated.
Several environmentally important parts of the county have been scarred by the latest fires, but ecologists haven't been able to go into those areas to assess the extent of the damage.
Properties that appear to have sustained damage include sections of Palomar Mountain and the Ramona grasslands, Santa Ysabel Open Space Preserve and Volcan Mountain Preserve.
Last week, officials at the South County wildlife refuge were assessing fire damage and planning to keep invasive grasses from taking over on roughly 4,000 burned acres. Their efforts will include replanting native species and using herbicides to knock out unwanted plants.
Advertisement However, ecologists said, limited resources will make it impossible to apply similar measures to most of the county's charred zones.
About 60,000 acres burned in areas set aside for dozens of species under the Multiple Species Conservation Program, said Thomas Oberbauer, who oversees the county's portion of the program. The plan was created in the late 1990s to preserve open spaces while making room for development.
Scott Morrison, an ecologist with The Nature Conservancy in San Diego, said many of the organization's properties in San Diego County have been ravaged in recent days.
“What these fires remind us is that ... we need to make sure that our natural conservation lands are larger than the largest catastrophic fire we face ... so that some places remain unburned and provide a refuge for species,” Morrison said.
Wildfires last week have engulfed nearly 360,000 acres of the county, burning the life out of plants and animals that help make the region a jewel of biological diversity.
Massive blazes also render the land less hospitable for humans by increasing the likelihood of future wildfires, debris flows, erosion and water pollution.
“These fires are a staggering tragedy for both people and nature,” said David Hogan of San Diego, a conservation manager for the Center for Biological Diversity, a national environmental group.
“This may be the last straw for endangered species that have already suffered so much habitat loss to development and overly frequent fire.”
Native chaparral and coastal sage scrub in the overlapping burn zones may not recover in time to prevent the spread of fast-growing, non-native grasses. The areas were home to most of San Diego County's more than 40 species listed as threatened or endangered by the federal government.
In addition, grasslands are more vulnerable to wildfires than healthy coastal sage scrub and chaparral. A carelessly tossed cigarette is more likely to ignite the exotic invading grasses than it would the native chaparral.
“The backcountry is converting to a simpler, more weedy, less beautiful landscape than the California most of us moved into,” said Wayne Spencer of the Conservation Biology Institute in Encinitas.
A similar pattern has played out across the West, with virtually every state in the region having to battle the problem.
In areas such as eastern Oregon and the Rockies, native plants repeatedly burned by wildfires cannot regain a foothold because cheat grass and other invaders quickly move in and dominate the terrain.
“It's widespread and it does seem to be increasing,” said Christopher Dionigi, assistant director of the National Invasive Species Council in Washington, D.C.
Russian thistle Even before the latest inferno began Sunday, drought had taken a toll on many of San Diego County's native plants. The dry conditions killed scores of oak trees and allowed bark beetles to finish off weakened pines.
Contrary to popular thought, Southern California is not a desert. Shrubland, a mix of sage scrub and chaparral, is the native landscape for much of the region between the Pacific shoreline and the foothills of coastal mountains.
For instance, nearly 90 percent of the Cleveland National Forest is shrubland rather than coniferous forest.
California has about 8.6 million acres of chaparral, but that figure is declining rapidly. From 1946 to 1987, 1.5 million acres were lost because of urban expansion, ranching and wildfires.
Likewise, development and agriculture have reduced coastal sage scrub to less than 15 percent of its expanse when California became a state.
Coastal sage and chaparral have adapted to withstand periodic fires of 20 to 60 years apart. In fact, the seeds of several native plants need fire and smoke to prepare them to germinate.
“Chaparral requires roughly 20 years or more to recover from a fire to be able to withstand a repeat fire,” said Jon Keeley, a fire ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey near Fresno.
“The native vegetation typically doesn't recover once it has been taken over by alien grasses.”
Researchers studying the aftermath of the 2003 Cedar fire said pines and other trees in Rancho Cuyamaca State Park are not returning as quickly as originally anticipated.
Several environmentally important parts of the county have been scarred by the latest fires, but ecologists haven't been able to go into those areas to assess the extent of the damage.
Properties that appear to have sustained damage include sections of Palomar Mountain and the Ramona grasslands, Santa Ysabel Open Space Preserve and Volcan Mountain Preserve.
Last week, officials at the South County wildlife refuge were assessing fire damage and planning to keep invasive grasses from taking over on roughly 4,000 burned acres. Their efforts will include replanting native species and using herbicides to knock out unwanted plants.
Advertisement However, ecologists said, limited resources will make it impossible to apply similar measures to most of the county's charred zones.
About 60,000 acres burned in areas set aside for dozens of species under the Multiple Species Conservation Program, said Thomas Oberbauer, who oversees the county's portion of the program. The plan was created in the late 1990s to preserve open spaces while making room for development.
Scott Morrison, an ecologist with The Nature Conservancy in San Diego, said many of the organization's properties in San Diego County have been ravaged in recent days.
“What these fires remind us is that ... we need to make sure that our natural conservation lands are larger than the largest catastrophic fire we face ... so that some places remain unburned and provide a refuge for species,” Morrison said.
Marine Bioblitz uncovers biodiversity bonanza
Monday, 29 October 2007
Wellington’s Marine Bioblitz has uncovered a biodiversity bonanza, identifying 551 species – including at least four new species during the month-long search.
Marine Bioblitz Co-ordinator Heather Anderson says the Marine Bioblitz – the world’s first – was a tremendous success in revealing the incredible diversity and richness of plant and animal life in Wellington’s marine environment.
“We knew that Wellington was rich in an abundance of marine life, but the variety and number of species found has been really exciting, and demonstrates how little we know about the underwater life that exists right on our doorstep.”
The Bioblitz, conducted in the area off Wellington’s south coast to be announced as the Kupe-Kevin Marine Reserve in January, found four new species:• A many-tentacled tube anemone found by NIWA scientist Malcolm Francis • A tiny red and green nudibranch (sea slug) found by Forest & Bird marine advocate Kirstie Knowles • A bryozoan (a tiny animal that builds a stony skeleton, also known as moss animals or sea mats) found by Kirstie Knowles and NIWA’s Adam Smith• A diatom (a single-celled phytoplankton) found by Margaret Harper of Victoria University.
Dive teams from Island Bay Divers and Dive HQ also found six more potential new species, including a minute “red blob” – the origin of which is so puzzling that the experts are completely baffled about what phylum it might belong to.
These discoveries will now be analysed in more detail by experts to determine whether they are indeed new species previously unknown to science
Another highlight of the Bioblitz was the appearance of two species of whale – an orca and a southern right whale.
Heather Anderson says the Bioblitz brought together scientists, conservationists, divers and the Wellington public and raised public awareness of Wellington’s unique marine biodiversity.
“The Kupe-Kevin Smith Marine Reserve will be New Zealand’s first marine reserve located so close to a major urban centre, and will be the first marine reserve in Cook Strait, which has a diversity of unique marine plants and animals. The marine reserve will play an important role in protecting this rich underwater world.”
Wellington’s Marine Bioblitz has uncovered a biodiversity bonanza, identifying 551 species – including at least four new species during the month-long search.
Marine Bioblitz Co-ordinator Heather Anderson says the Marine Bioblitz – the world’s first – was a tremendous success in revealing the incredible diversity and richness of plant and animal life in Wellington’s marine environment.
“We knew that Wellington was rich in an abundance of marine life, but the variety and number of species found has been really exciting, and demonstrates how little we know about the underwater life that exists right on our doorstep.”
The Bioblitz, conducted in the area off Wellington’s south coast to be announced as the Kupe-Kevin Marine Reserve in January, found four new species:• A many-tentacled tube anemone found by NIWA scientist Malcolm Francis • A tiny red and green nudibranch (sea slug) found by Forest & Bird marine advocate Kirstie Knowles • A bryozoan (a tiny animal that builds a stony skeleton, also known as moss animals or sea mats) found by Kirstie Knowles and NIWA’s Adam Smith• A diatom (a single-celled phytoplankton) found by Margaret Harper of Victoria University.
Dive teams from Island Bay Divers and Dive HQ also found six more potential new species, including a minute “red blob” – the origin of which is so puzzling that the experts are completely baffled about what phylum it might belong to.
These discoveries will now be analysed in more detail by experts to determine whether they are indeed new species previously unknown to science
Another highlight of the Bioblitz was the appearance of two species of whale – an orca and a southern right whale.
Heather Anderson says the Bioblitz brought together scientists, conservationists, divers and the Wellington public and raised public awareness of Wellington’s unique marine biodiversity.
“The Kupe-Kevin Smith Marine Reserve will be New Zealand’s first marine reserve located so close to a major urban centre, and will be the first marine reserve in Cook Strait, which has a diversity of unique marine plants and animals. The marine reserve will play an important role in protecting this rich underwater world.”
Estimating the value of biodiversity
One ground-breaking aspect of the Global Environment Outlook 2007 issued last week is the attempt to estimate the monetary value of biodiversity.
For instance, the value of coral reefs for fisheries and tourism is estimated at US$30 billion per year, and the value of the herbal medicine market at roughly US$43 billion in 2001 figures.
Although such estimates are often attempted at local levels, expanding the effort to a global level significantly inflates the figure, thus enhancing the shock value of the potential damage and giving it a greater sense of priority.
The authors of the Global Environment Outlook are clearly hoping to build on the success in calculating the economic value of travel and tourism as a job creator and foreign exchange earner, which has helped policy-makers create the conditions for generating phenomenal tourism growth in the last few decades.
They believe the same can be done by estimating the value of biodiversity and its value to tourism.
The report says: "Identifying economic values of ecosystem services, together with the notions of intrinsic value and other factors, will assist significantly in future decisions relating to trade-offs in ecosystem management."
Citing one example, the report says that the global net value of coral reefs relating to fisheries, coastal protection, tourism and biodiversity is estimated at US$29.8 billion oer year. It highlights the Caribbean, a popular tourist region, where human activities reportedly threaten nearly two-thirds of coral reefs.
The report also notes that countries are attempting new ways of raising revenues for environmental protection.
For example, it says, the Protected Areas Conservation Trust in Belize receives most of its revenue from an airport tax of about US$3.75, paid by all visitors upon departure, together with a 20% commission on cruise ship passenger fees. The British overseas island territory of Turks and Caicos designates 1% of a 9% hotel tax to support the maintenance and protection of the country's protected areas.
These so-called "green taxes", although opposed by industry interest groups, are putting pressure on the world's major polluters and environment destroyers, the report says.
At the same time, it says, Environmental degradation due to development raises deep ethical questions that go beyond economic cost-benefit ratios.
"The question of justice is perhaps the greatest moral question emerging in relation to environmental change and sustainable development. Growing evidence indicates that the burden of environmental change is falling far from the greatest consumers of environmental resources, who experience the benefits of development," the report says.
"Often, people living in poverty in the developing world, suffer the negative effects of environmental degradation. Furthermore, costs of environmental degradation will be experienced by humankind in future generations. Profound ethical questions are raised when benefits are extracted from the environment by those who do not bear the burden."
Both tourism and its first-cousin, the air transport industry, produce many economic benefits but are criticised for not doing enough on the ecological front.
Tourism is an economic mainstay in many parts of the world, especially island nations such as the Seychelles, as well as the Mediterranean coastal areas.
At the same time, it cites the urban sprawl of Las Vegas, the fastest-growing metropolitan area in the United States _ a reference that may soon be applicable to Singapore and Macau as they seek to develop their gaming industries on the Las Vegas model.
"As the (Las Vegas) gaming and tourism industry blossomed, so has the city's population," the report says.
"Population growth has put a strain on water supplies," it adds. "Satellite imagery of Las Vegas provides a dramatic illustration of the spatial patterns and rates of change resulting from the city's urban sprawl."
Another example is the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico, which is experiencing a significant growth in tourism infrastructure all along the Caribbean coast.
The conversion of mangrove forest into beachfront tourist resorts along the Mayan Riviera, south of Cancu{aac}n, has left the coastlines vulnerable. Playa del Carmen, at 14%, has the fastest growth in tourism infrastructure in Mexico. Threats to the aquifers come from increasing water use, of which 99% is withdrawn from groundwater and wastewater disposal, the report says.
For instance, the value of coral reefs for fisheries and tourism is estimated at US$30 billion per year, and the value of the herbal medicine market at roughly US$43 billion in 2001 figures.
Although such estimates are often attempted at local levels, expanding the effort to a global level significantly inflates the figure, thus enhancing the shock value of the potential damage and giving it a greater sense of priority.
The authors of the Global Environment Outlook are clearly hoping to build on the success in calculating the economic value of travel and tourism as a job creator and foreign exchange earner, which has helped policy-makers create the conditions for generating phenomenal tourism growth in the last few decades.
They believe the same can be done by estimating the value of biodiversity and its value to tourism.
The report says: "Identifying economic values of ecosystem services, together with the notions of intrinsic value and other factors, will assist significantly in future decisions relating to trade-offs in ecosystem management."
Citing one example, the report says that the global net value of coral reefs relating to fisheries, coastal protection, tourism and biodiversity is estimated at US$29.8 billion oer year. It highlights the Caribbean, a popular tourist region, where human activities reportedly threaten nearly two-thirds of coral reefs.
The report also notes that countries are attempting new ways of raising revenues for environmental protection.
For example, it says, the Protected Areas Conservation Trust in Belize receives most of its revenue from an airport tax of about US$3.75, paid by all visitors upon departure, together with a 20% commission on cruise ship passenger fees. The British overseas island territory of Turks and Caicos designates 1% of a 9% hotel tax to support the maintenance and protection of the country's protected areas.
These so-called "green taxes", although opposed by industry interest groups, are putting pressure on the world's major polluters and environment destroyers, the report says.
At the same time, it says, Environmental degradation due to development raises deep ethical questions that go beyond economic cost-benefit ratios.
"The question of justice is perhaps the greatest moral question emerging in relation to environmental change and sustainable development. Growing evidence indicates that the burden of environmental change is falling far from the greatest consumers of environmental resources, who experience the benefits of development," the report says.
"Often, people living in poverty in the developing world, suffer the negative effects of environmental degradation. Furthermore, costs of environmental degradation will be experienced by humankind in future generations. Profound ethical questions are raised when benefits are extracted from the environment by those who do not bear the burden."
Both tourism and its first-cousin, the air transport industry, produce many economic benefits but are criticised for not doing enough on the ecological front.
Tourism is an economic mainstay in many parts of the world, especially island nations such as the Seychelles, as well as the Mediterranean coastal areas.
At the same time, it cites the urban sprawl of Las Vegas, the fastest-growing metropolitan area in the United States _ a reference that may soon be applicable to Singapore and Macau as they seek to develop their gaming industries on the Las Vegas model.
"As the (Las Vegas) gaming and tourism industry blossomed, so has the city's population," the report says.
"Population growth has put a strain on water supplies," it adds. "Satellite imagery of Las Vegas provides a dramatic illustration of the spatial patterns and rates of change resulting from the city's urban sprawl."
Another example is the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico, which is experiencing a significant growth in tourism infrastructure all along the Caribbean coast.
The conversion of mangrove forest into beachfront tourist resorts along the Mayan Riviera, south of Cancu{aac}n, has left the coastlines vulnerable. Playa del Carmen, at 14%, has the fastest growth in tourism infrastructure in Mexico. Threats to the aquifers come from increasing water use, of which 99% is withdrawn from groundwater and wastewater disposal, the report says.
Monday, October 8, 2007
Carbon for forests will help Aceh recover from war, tsunami
Aceh Governor Irwandi Jusuf, a former rebel who was one of only 40 survivors after the December 2004 tsunami struck the prison where he was incarcerated, is now one of Indonesia's leading supporters of forest conservation funded through carbon credits.
Carbon credits through forest conservation will play an important role in Aceh's recovery from decades of civil strife and the devastating 2004 tsunami, which left more than 167,000 people dead and 500,000 homeless in the Indonesia province, said Aceh governor Irwandi Jusuf in meeting in San Francisco. "The world needs more forests to store carbon," he said. "Aceh can give you these forests. This is my obsession -- the forests of Aceh need to be kept well." In one of his first moves as governor, Irwandi in March declared a moratorium on all logging in the province, which had seen an up tick in timber cutting for tsunami reconstruction efforts. The move -- met with derision by some in the Indonesian forestry sector -- was welcomed by environmentalists and appears to have diminished legal and illegal logging, which is rampant in other parts of the country. Irwandi says that protecting Aceh's forests -- which are some of the largest blocks of rainforest remaining on the island of Sumatra -- is his top priority for rebuilding the economy. The next step, he says, is to promote economic growth through sustainable development and reforestation.
"We can provide a lot of employment through a reforestation program," said Irwandi. "People who used to be paid to cut forests can now be paid to reforest. Aceh has 3 million hectares (7.5 million acres) of degraded land that can be used for reforestation and agricultural expansion." "I see three areas," he continued. "Areas of no harvest which are preserved for wildlife, carbon, and other services; community forestry areas where degraded lands are replanted with fruit and timber trees that are then sustainably managed; and the remaining land for oil palm and rubber plantations. Irwandi says that Aceh needs money to start the program and believes that funds could come from carbon credits through avoided deforestation. "I think within six years we could have the world's biggest forest carbon offset program," he said. Avoided deforestation is the process by which forested countries earn carbon credits for protecting forests that lock up large amounts of carbon. Deforestation is a major source of greenhouse gases, accounting for roughly 20 percent of global emissions. Steps to reduce forest clearing and degradation will help mitigate climate change.
Most of Sumatra's lowland rainforest has been cleared by loggers and for oil palm plantations. The conflict in Aceh effectively protected the province's forests by preventing such development. Overall the avoided deforestation market could be substantial -- on the order of tens of billions of dollars per year. Gains would extend beyond helping fighting climate change -- avoided deforestation offers the potential to simultaneously conserve biodiversity, alleviate rural poverty, protect important ecosystem services, and reduce the risk of forest fires in the tropics. Under the existing Kyoto agreement, only reforestation and afforestation are eligible for carbon credits -- forest protection is specifically excluded from receiving carbon credits -- but considerable momentum for avoided deforestation makes it likely that the mechanism will be carefully considered during the next round of climate talks in Bali, Indonesia in December. Last week a group of eight tropical countries containing 80 percent of the world's remaining tropical forest cover -- Brazil, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Gabon, Cameroon, Costa Rica, Congo and Indonesia -- announced an alliance to push avoided deforestation at the upcoming conference. Irwandi, a veterinarian by trade, was formerly a rebel leader with the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), a separatist movement that the Indonesian government has battled for decades. Arrested in 2003, Irwandi was held at Keudah Prison in Banda Aceh when the December 26, 2004 tsunami struck and flooded the facility. Irwandi survived by punching a hole through the ceiling and fleeing to the roof. He was one of 40 survivors at the prison. During the reconciliation that followed the tsunami, Irwandi was elected governor in Aceh’s first democratic election in almost 30 years. The soldiers who once hunted him are now his guards.
Carbon credits through forest conservation will play an important role in Aceh's recovery from decades of civil strife and the devastating 2004 tsunami, which left more than 167,000 people dead and 500,000 homeless in the Indonesia province, said Aceh governor Irwandi Jusuf in meeting in San Francisco. "The world needs more forests to store carbon," he said. "Aceh can give you these forests. This is my obsession -- the forests of Aceh need to be kept well." In one of his first moves as governor, Irwandi in March declared a moratorium on all logging in the province, which had seen an up tick in timber cutting for tsunami reconstruction efforts. The move -- met with derision by some in the Indonesian forestry sector -- was welcomed by environmentalists and appears to have diminished legal and illegal logging, which is rampant in other parts of the country. Irwandi says that protecting Aceh's forests -- which are some of the largest blocks of rainforest remaining on the island of Sumatra -- is his top priority for rebuilding the economy. The next step, he says, is to promote economic growth through sustainable development and reforestation.
"We can provide a lot of employment through a reforestation program," said Irwandi. "People who used to be paid to cut forests can now be paid to reforest. Aceh has 3 million hectares (7.5 million acres) of degraded land that can be used for reforestation and agricultural expansion." "I see three areas," he continued. "Areas of no harvest which are preserved for wildlife, carbon, and other services; community forestry areas where degraded lands are replanted with fruit and timber trees that are then sustainably managed; and the remaining land for oil palm and rubber plantations. Irwandi says that Aceh needs money to start the program and believes that funds could come from carbon credits through avoided deforestation. "I think within six years we could have the world's biggest forest carbon offset program," he said. Avoided deforestation is the process by which forested countries earn carbon credits for protecting forests that lock up large amounts of carbon. Deforestation is a major source of greenhouse gases, accounting for roughly 20 percent of global emissions. Steps to reduce forest clearing and degradation will help mitigate climate change.
Most of Sumatra's lowland rainforest has been cleared by loggers and for oil palm plantations. The conflict in Aceh effectively protected the province's forests by preventing such development. Overall the avoided deforestation market could be substantial -- on the order of tens of billions of dollars per year. Gains would extend beyond helping fighting climate change -- avoided deforestation offers the potential to simultaneously conserve biodiversity, alleviate rural poverty, protect important ecosystem services, and reduce the risk of forest fires in the tropics. Under the existing Kyoto agreement, only reforestation and afforestation are eligible for carbon credits -- forest protection is specifically excluded from receiving carbon credits -- but considerable momentum for avoided deforestation makes it likely that the mechanism will be carefully considered during the next round of climate talks in Bali, Indonesia in December. Last week a group of eight tropical countries containing 80 percent of the world's remaining tropical forest cover -- Brazil, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Gabon, Cameroon, Costa Rica, Congo and Indonesia -- announced an alliance to push avoided deforestation at the upcoming conference. Irwandi, a veterinarian by trade, was formerly a rebel leader with the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), a separatist movement that the Indonesian government has battled for decades. Arrested in 2003, Irwandi was held at Keudah Prison in Banda Aceh when the December 26, 2004 tsunami struck and flooded the facility. Irwandi survived by punching a hole through the ceiling and fleeing to the roof. He was one of 40 survivors at the prison. During the reconciliation that followed the tsunami, Irwandi was elected governor in Aceh’s first democratic election in almost 30 years. The soldiers who once hunted him are now his guards.
Malaysia to step up laws on illegal logging
KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - Malaysia, a major timber exporter, said Tuesday that it would beef up its laws to fight a serious illegal logging problem that could harm the country's reputation.
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Deputy prime minister Najib Razak, who also heads the National Forestry Council, said companies involved in logging would now be responsible for providing evidence that they had not cut down trees illegally.
"The council agreed to review and amend the National Forestry Act to incorporate the principle that the burden of proof was transferred to the party that is found to be in possession of timber," he said.
"This means those found in possession of timber must furnish proof from where the trees were cut. If they cannot show proof, it means they have committed an offence," he was quoted as saying by the official Bernama news agency.
Najib's remarks come after Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi pledged last month not to indiscriminately approve logging licences, amid mounting concern that clearances are threatening endangered species and tribal communities.
Najib warned that illegal logging could compromise Malaysia's policy on sustainable management of its environment.
"It can jeopardise our efforts to preserve biodiversity, flora and fauna and have an impact on global warming. At the international level, illegal logging portrays a negative image of our country," he said.
"It can harm our national economy as the timber industry produces 23 billion ringgit (6.8 billion dollars) worth of wood-based products a year," he added.
Najib said that if developed countries in Europe and the United States were to take action, it could "adversely affect" Malaysia's economy.
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window.yzq_d['JwRGndGDJGs-']='&U=13ad4bvd1%2fN%3dJwRGndGDJGs-%2fC%3d570180.9955586.10735075.1442997%2fD%3dLREC%2fB%3d4324711';
Deputy prime minister Najib Razak, who also heads the National Forestry Council, said companies involved in logging would now be responsible for providing evidence that they had not cut down trees illegally.
"The council agreed to review and amend the National Forestry Act to incorporate the principle that the burden of proof was transferred to the party that is found to be in possession of timber," he said.
"This means those found in possession of timber must furnish proof from where the trees were cut. If they cannot show proof, it means they have committed an offence," he was quoted as saying by the official Bernama news agency.
Najib's remarks come after Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi pledged last month not to indiscriminately approve logging licences, amid mounting concern that clearances are threatening endangered species and tribal communities.
Najib warned that illegal logging could compromise Malaysia's policy on sustainable management of its environment.
"It can jeopardise our efforts to preserve biodiversity, flora and fauna and have an impact on global warming. At the international level, illegal logging portrays a negative image of our country," he said.
"It can harm our national economy as the timber industry produces 23 billion ringgit (6.8 billion dollars) worth of wood-based products a year," he added.
Najib said that if developed countries in Europe and the United States were to take action, it could "adversely affect" Malaysia's economy.
Malaysia Lifts Ban on Export of Monkeys - Report
KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia has lifted a ban on the export of long-tailed macaques in a bid to thin the population of the monkeys, which are becoming a menace in urban areas, state news agency Bernama said on Friday.
Malaysia is negotiating to export the animals to Taiwan, Hong Kong, Korea and Japan, where they could end up as food or as pets, the New Straits Times newspaper said.
"The cabinet has decided to lift the ban which was imposed in 1984 on the capture and export of this type of monkey," Bernama quoted Environment Minister Azmi Khalid said as telling a news conference.
"These monkeys create havoc in urban areas, not only stealing food from houses but also attacking people, and this is a cause for worry," said Azmi, speaking in the country's administrative capital of Putrajaya.
Azmi said efforts to curb their numbers through sterilisation had failed.
An environment ministry study showed that there were 258,406 long-tailed macaques living in urban areas in peninsular Malaysia, with 483,747 living in the wild, Bernama reported.
The export ban was being lifted only in peninsular Malaysia, but not the country's eastern states of Sabah and Sarawak on the island of Borneo, it added.
The ministry had yet to decide on how to catch the monkeys and export them, Azmi said.
"We want to make sure that long-tailed monkeys in the wild are not disturbed," he said. "We also want to ensure that monkeys caught in urban areas are not ill-treated in the process of export. These monkeys still are on the endangered list of animals, so we have to do this right."
Malaysian wildlife authorities smashed a ring of smugglers last month and confiscated more than 900 poached monkeys destined for China or the Netherlands in what officials said was their biggest seizure involving the animal so far.
The original export ban on the monkeys was the result of an alarming drop in their numbers after an average of 10,000 animals were exported each year in the 1970s for use in biomedical research, as food or as pets, the New Straits Times said.
Malaysia is negotiating to export the animals to Taiwan, Hong Kong, Korea and Japan, where they could end up as food or as pets, the New Straits Times newspaper said.
"The cabinet has decided to lift the ban which was imposed in 1984 on the capture and export of this type of monkey," Bernama quoted Environment Minister Azmi Khalid said as telling a news conference.
"These monkeys create havoc in urban areas, not only stealing food from houses but also attacking people, and this is a cause for worry," said Azmi, speaking in the country's administrative capital of Putrajaya.
Azmi said efforts to curb their numbers through sterilisation had failed.
An environment ministry study showed that there were 258,406 long-tailed macaques living in urban areas in peninsular Malaysia, with 483,747 living in the wild, Bernama reported.
The export ban was being lifted only in peninsular Malaysia, but not the country's eastern states of Sabah and Sarawak on the island of Borneo, it added.
The ministry had yet to decide on how to catch the monkeys and export them, Azmi said.
"We want to make sure that long-tailed monkeys in the wild are not disturbed," he said. "We also want to ensure that monkeys caught in urban areas are not ill-treated in the process of export. These monkeys still are on the endangered list of animals, so we have to do this right."
Malaysian wildlife authorities smashed a ring of smugglers last month and confiscated more than 900 poached monkeys destined for China or the Netherlands in what officials said was their biggest seizure involving the animal so far.
The original export ban on the monkeys was the result of an alarming drop in their numbers after an average of 10,000 animals were exported each year in the 1970s for use in biomedical research, as food or as pets, the New Straits Times said.
World on Sustainable Development
Poverty and the Environment
The causes of poverty and of environmental degradation are inter-related suggesting that approaching sustainable development requires understanding the issues from many angles, not just say an environmentalist or economics perspective alone. Last updated Saturday, February 12, 2005.
Read article: Poverty and the Environment
Non-governmental Organizations on Development Issues
What does an ever-increasing number of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) mean? NGOs are non-profit organizations filling the gap where governments will not, or cannot function. In the past however, some NGOs from the wealthy nations have received a bad reputation in some developing nations because of things like arrogance, imposition of their views, being a foreign policy arm or tool of the original country and so on. Even in recent years some of these criticisms still hold. However, recently some new and old NGOs alike, have started to become more participatory and grassroots-oriented to help empower the people they are trying to help, to help themselves. This is in general a positive turn. Yet, the fact that there are so many NGOs popping up everywhere perhaps points to failures of international systems of politics, economics, markets, and basic rights. Last updated Wednesday, June 01, 2005.
Read article: Non-governmental Organizations on Development Issues
US and Foreign Aid Assistance
The US being the wealthiest, strongest and most influential nation, it is worth seeing how their actions or inaction affect other nations. One notable area is regarding the issue of debt and poverty. Being a major part of the IMF, World Bank and even helping to formulate the UN about 50 years ago, their actions can be felt around the world. Last updated Sunday, April 08, 2007.
Read article: US and Foreign Aid Assistance
G8: Too Much Power?
The G8 (the G7—United States, Japan, Germany, UK, France, Germany, Canada—and Russia) make up the most powerful economies and militaries in the world. Together, their influence on world affairs is enormous, and their annual summits become a focal point for global protests and campaigns on issues such as poverty, aid, trade, climate change, Africa, development, and so on. Posted Sunday, June 10, 2007.
Read article: G8: Too Much Power?
Water and Development
Issues such as water privatization are important in the developing world especially as it goes right to the heart of water rights, profits over people, and so on. This article looks into these issues and the impacts it has on people around the world. Last updated Saturday, September 01, 2007.
Read article: Water and Development
Brain Drain of Workers from Poor to Rich Countries
Brain drain is a problem for many poor countries losing skilled workers to richer countries. In healthcare, the effects can often be seen vividly. For example, in many rich countries, up to one third of doctors may be from abroad, many from Sub-Sahara Africa, while many African countries have as little as 500 doctors serving their entire population. Reasons for this brain drain vary, ranging from poor conditions domestically to attractive opportunities and active enticement from abroad. Posted Friday, April 14, 2006.
Read article: Brain Drain of Workers from Poor to Rich Countries
World Summit on Sustainable Development
This section introduces some of the issues on the international summit (August 26 - September 4, 2002) where thousands of delegates met to discuss various issues comprising sustainable development. Of course, there was a lot of controversy including differences between the global North and South on all sorts of issues such as corporate-led globalization, privatization of energy, water, health, etc. In addition there was also concern about motives and influences of large corporations on the outcomes of the Summit. Last updated Saturday, September 07, 2002.
Read article: World Summit on Sustainable Development
United Nations on Development Issues
The United Nations is the largest international body involved in development issues around the world. However, it has many political issues and problems to contend with. But, despite this, it is also performing some much needed tasks around the world, through its many satellite organizations and entities, providing a means to realize the Declaration of Human Rights. Unfortunately though, it is not perfect and is negatively affected by politics of powerful nations that wish to further their own interests. Last updated Wednesday, July 25, 2001.
The causes of poverty and of environmental degradation are inter-related suggesting that approaching sustainable development requires understanding the issues from many angles, not just say an environmentalist or economics perspective alone. Last updated Saturday, February 12, 2005.
Read article: Poverty and the Environment
Non-governmental Organizations on Development Issues
What does an ever-increasing number of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) mean? NGOs are non-profit organizations filling the gap where governments will not, or cannot function. In the past however, some NGOs from the wealthy nations have received a bad reputation in some developing nations because of things like arrogance, imposition of their views, being a foreign policy arm or tool of the original country and so on. Even in recent years some of these criticisms still hold. However, recently some new and old NGOs alike, have started to become more participatory and grassroots-oriented to help empower the people they are trying to help, to help themselves. This is in general a positive turn. Yet, the fact that there are so many NGOs popping up everywhere perhaps points to failures of international systems of politics, economics, markets, and basic rights. Last updated Wednesday, June 01, 2005.
Read article: Non-governmental Organizations on Development Issues
US and Foreign Aid Assistance
The US being the wealthiest, strongest and most influential nation, it is worth seeing how their actions or inaction affect other nations. One notable area is regarding the issue of debt and poverty. Being a major part of the IMF, World Bank and even helping to formulate the UN about 50 years ago, their actions can be felt around the world. Last updated Sunday, April 08, 2007.
Read article: US and Foreign Aid Assistance
G8: Too Much Power?
The G8 (the G7—United States, Japan, Germany, UK, France, Germany, Canada—and Russia) make up the most powerful economies and militaries in the world. Together, their influence on world affairs is enormous, and their annual summits become a focal point for global protests and campaigns on issues such as poverty, aid, trade, climate change, Africa, development, and so on. Posted Sunday, June 10, 2007.
Read article: G8: Too Much Power?
Water and Development
Issues such as water privatization are important in the developing world especially as it goes right to the heart of water rights, profits over people, and so on. This article looks into these issues and the impacts it has on people around the world. Last updated Saturday, September 01, 2007.
Read article: Water and Development
Brain Drain of Workers from Poor to Rich Countries
Brain drain is a problem for many poor countries losing skilled workers to richer countries. In healthcare, the effects can often be seen vividly. For example, in many rich countries, up to one third of doctors may be from abroad, many from Sub-Sahara Africa, while many African countries have as little as 500 doctors serving their entire population. Reasons for this brain drain vary, ranging from poor conditions domestically to attractive opportunities and active enticement from abroad. Posted Friday, April 14, 2006.
Read article: Brain Drain of Workers from Poor to Rich Countries
World Summit on Sustainable Development
This section introduces some of the issues on the international summit (August 26 - September 4, 2002) where thousands of delegates met to discuss various issues comprising sustainable development. Of course, there was a lot of controversy including differences between the global North and South on all sorts of issues such as corporate-led globalization, privatization of energy, water, health, etc. In addition there was also concern about motives and influences of large corporations on the outcomes of the Summit. Last updated Saturday, September 07, 2002.
Read article: World Summit on Sustainable Development
United Nations on Development Issues
The United Nations is the largest international body involved in development issues around the world. However, it has many political issues and problems to contend with. But, despite this, it is also performing some much needed tasks around the world, through its many satellite organizations and entities, providing a means to realize the Declaration of Human Rights. Unfortunately though, it is not perfect and is negatively affected by politics of powerful nations that wish to further their own interests. Last updated Wednesday, July 25, 2001.
Sustainomics and sustainable development
Sustainomics seeks to provide a comprehensive, practical framework for making present and future development efforts more sustainable. Sustainable development has become well accepted worldwide, following the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, and the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg. World decision makers are now looking at this approach to address many critical policy issues.
The World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED 1987) defined sustainable development as “development which meets the needs of the present, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” Among many subsequent definitions, the sustainable development triangle in Figure 1 shows one widely-accepted concept proposed by Munasinghe, at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio. It encompasses three major perspectives—economic, social, and environmental.
Figure 1. Sustainable development triangle – key elements and links (corners, sides, center). Source: Adapted from Munasinghe, 1992, 1994
Historically, the development of the industrialized world focused on material production. Not surprisingly, most industrialized and developing nations have pursued the economic goal of increasing output and growth during the twentieth century. Thus, traditional development was strongly associated with economic growth, with some social aspects as well (see the discussion on poverty and equity, below). By the early 1960s the lack of ‘trickle-down’ benefits to the growing numbers of poor in developing countries, resulted in greater efforts to improve income distribution directly. Consequently, the development paradigm shifted towards equitable growth, where social (distributional) objectives, especially poverty alleviation, were recognized to be as important as economic efficiency. By the early 1980s, a large body of evidence had accumulated that environmental degradation was a major barrier to development, and new proactive safeguards were introduced (such as the environmental assessments). Thus, protection of the environment became the third major element of sustainable development.
Sustainomics has been described by Munasinghe as “a transdisciplinary, integrative, comprehensive, balanced, heuristic and practical framework for making development more sustainable”. It draws on the following basic principles and methods.
Making development more sustainable (MDMS)
The step-by-step approach of “making development more sustainable” (MDMS) becomes the prime objective, while sustainable development is defined as a process (rather than an end point). Since the precise definition of sustainable development remains an elusive and perhaps unreachable goal, a less ambitious strategy that merely seeks to make development more sustainable does offer greater promise. Such a gradient-based method is more practical and permits us to address urgent priorities without delay, because many unsustainable activities are easier to recognize and eliminate. Although MDMS is incremental, it does not imply any limitation in scope (e.g., restricted time horizon or geographic area – see item (c) below). While pursuing the MDMS approach, we also follow a parallel track by continuing our efforts to better define the ultimate goal of sustainable development. Finally, MDMS encourages us to keep future options open and seek robust strategies which meet multiple contingencies and increase resilience.
Sustainable development triangle and balanced viewpoint
Sustainable development requires balanced and integrated analysis from three main perspectives: social, economic, and environmental (Figure 1). Each viewpoint (represented by a vertex) corresponds to a domain (and system) that has its own distinct driving forces and objectives. The economic view is geared towards improving human welfare, primarily through increases in the consumption of goods and services. The environmental domain focuses on protection of the integrity and resilience of ecological systems. The social domain emphasizes the enrichment of human relationships and achievement of individual and group aspirations. The interactions among domains (represented by the sides) are also important to ensure balanced assessment of trade-offs and synergies that might exist among the three dimensions. Issues like poverty may be placed in the center of the triangle to re-emphasize that they are linked to all three dimensions.
Transcending conventional boundaries for better integration
The analysis transcends conventional boundaries imposed by discipline, space, time, stakeholder viewpoints, and operationality. The scope is broadened and extended in all domains, to ensure a comprehensive view. Trans-disciplinary analysis must cover economics, social science and ecology, as well as many other disciplines—since sustainable development itself involves every aspect of human activity, including complex interactions among socioeconomic, ecological and physical systems. Spatial analysis must range from the global to the very local, while the time horizon may extend to decades or centuries. Participation of all stakeholders (including government, private sector and civil society) through inclusion, empowerment and consultation, is important. The analysis needs to encompass the full operational cycle from data gathering to practical policy implementation and monitoring of outcomes. Applying the principle of subsidiarity will make overall governance more effective.
Full cycle application of practical analytical tools
A variety of practical analytical tools also facilitate governance over the full cycle from initial data gathering to ultimate policy implementation.
Two complementary approaches based on “optimality” and “durability” may be used to integrate and synthesize across economic, social and environmental domains, within an integrated assessment modeling framework. An issues-implementation transformation map (IITM) helps to translate issues in the environmental and social domains, into the conventional national economic planning and implementing mechanisms within line ministries and departments.
Restructuring the pattern of development to make economic growth more sustainable is explained through a “policy tunneling” model, especially useful in developing countries, where poverty alleviation will require continued increases in income and consumption. Other practical tools include the Action Impact Matrix (AIM), integrated national economic-environmental accounting (SEEA), sustainable development assessment (SDA), environmental valuation, extended cost-benefit analysis (CBA), multi-criteria analysis (MCA), integrated assessment models (IAMs), and so on. A range of sustainable development indicators help to measure progress and make choices at various levels of aggregation.
In the sustainomics framework, sustainable development is described as a process for improving the range of opportunities that will enable individual human beings and communities to achieve their aspirations and full potential over a sustained period of time, while maintaining the resilience of economic, social and environmental systems. Thus, sustainable development requires both increases in adaptive capacity and opportunities for improving economic, social and ecological systems. According to Gunderson and Holling, improving adaptive capacity increases resilience and sustainability. Expanding the set of opportunities for improvement gives rise to development. Heuristic behavior of individual organisms and systems facilitates learning, the testing of new processes, adaptation, and improvement.
The sustainomics framework recognizes that balance is needed in the relative emphasis placed on traditional development (which is more appealing to the South) versus sustainability (which is emphasised by the North). The approach seeks continuing improvements in the present quality of life at a lower intensity of resource use, thus leaving behind for future generations an undiminished stock of productive assets (i.e., manufactured, natural and social capital) that will improve their quality of life.
Elements of Sustainable Development
Economic Aspects
Economic progress is often evaluated in terms of welfare (or utility) – measured as willingness to pay for goods and services consumed. Thus, many economic policies typically seek to enhance income, and induce more efficient production and consumption of goods and services. The stability of prices and employment are among other important objectives.
Economic efficiency helps maximize income. It is measured against the ideal of Pareto optimality, which encourages actions that will improve the welfare of at least one individual without worsening the situation of anyone else. The idealized, perfectly competitive economy is an important (Pareto optimal) benchmark, where (efficient) market prices play a key role in both allocating productive resources to maximize output, and ensuring optimal consumption choices which maximize consumer utility. If significant economic distortions are present, appropriate shadow prices may be used. The well-known cost-benefit criterion accepts all projects whose net benefits are positive (i.e., aggregate benefits exceed costs). It is based on the weaker ‘quasi’ Pareto condition, which assumes that such net benefits could be redistributed from potential gainers to losers—leaving no one worse off than before. More generally, interpersonal comparisons of welfare are fraught with difficulty – both within and across nations, and over time (e.g., the value of human life).
According to Hicks, economic sustainability seeks to maximize the flow of income that could be generated while at least maintaining the stock of assets (or capital) which yield these beneficial outputs. Economic efficiency continues to optimize both production and consumption. Problems arise in identifying the kinds of capital to be maintained (e.g., manufactured, natural, human and social capital), and their substitutability. Often, it is difficult to value these assets (especially ecological and social resources) and the services they provide. Even key economic assets may be overlooked, especially in situations where non-market based transactions are important. Meanwhile, the equation of welfare with monetary income and consumption has been challenged for many years. More recently, researchers (e.g., Maslow 1970) have identified hierarchies of needs that provide psychic satisfaction, beyond mere goods and services.
The issues of uncertainty, irreversibility and catastrophic collapse pose additional difficulties, in determining dynamically efficient development paths. Many common microeconomic approaches rely on marginal analysis (e.g., comparing incremental costs and benefits of economic activities), which assumes smoothly changing variables. They are inappropriate for analyzing large changes, discontinuous phenomena, and sudden transitions among multiple equilibria. Recent work has begun to explore the behavior of large, non-linear, dynamic and chaotic systems, and concepts like system vulnerability and resilience.
Environmental Aspects
Development in the environmental sense is a recent concern relating to the need to manage scarce natural resources in a prudent manner – because human welfare ultimately depends on ecological services. Ignoring safe ecological limits could undermine long-run prospects for development. Recent literature covers links among environment, growth and sustainable development.
Environmental sustainability focuses on overall viability and normal functioning of natural systems. For ecological systems, sustainability is defined by a comprehensive, multiscale, dynamic, hierarchical measure of resilience, vigor and organization. Resilience is the ability of ecosystems to persist despite external shocks, i.e., the amount of disruption that will cause an ecosystem to switch from one system state to another. An ecosystem state is defined by its internal structure and set of mutually re-inforcing processes. Vigor is associated with the primary productivity or growth of an ecosystem. Organization depends on both complexity and structure of the system. For example, a multicellular organism like a human being is more highly organized than a single-celled amoeba. Higher states of organization imply lower levels of entropy. Thus, the second law of thermodynamics requires that sustainability of complex organisms and systems depend on the use of low-entropy energy derived from their environment, which is returned as (less useful) high-entropy energy.
Natural resource degradation, pollution and loss of biodiversity are detrimental because they reduce resilience, increase vulnerability, and undermine system health. The notions of a safe threshold and carrying capacity are important, to avoid catastrophic ecosystem collapse. Sustainability may be also linked to the normal functioning and longevity of a nested hierarchy of ecological and socioeconomic systems, ordered according to scale – e.g., a human community would consist of many individuals, who are themselves composed of a large number of discrete cells. Gunderson and Holling use the term ‘panarchy’ to denote such a hierarchy of systems and their adaptive cycles across scales. A system at a given level is able to operate in its stable (sustainable) mode, because it is protected by slower and more conservative changes in the super-system above it, while being simultaneously invigorated and energized by faster changes taking place in sub-systems below it.
Sustainable development is not necessarily synonymous with maintaining the ecological status quo. A coupled ecological-socioeconomic system could evolve, while maintaining levels of biodiversity that guarantee resilience of ecosystems on which future human consumption and production depend.
Social Aspects
Social development usually refers to improvements in both individual well-being and overall social welfare resulting from increases in social capital – typically, the accumulation of capacity enabling individuals and communities to work together. According to North, the institutional component of social capital involves formal laws as well as traditional or informal understandings that govern behavior, while the organizational component is embodied in individuals and communities operating within these institutional arrangements. The quantity and quality of social interactions underlying human existence (including levels of mutual trust, and shared social norms and values), determine the stock of social capital. Thus, social capital grows with greater use and erodes through disuse, unlike economic and environmental capital, which are depreciated or depleted by use. We note that some forms of social capital may be harmful (e.g., cooperation within criminal gangs).
There is also an important element of equity and poverty alleviation (see below). Thus, the social dimension of development includes protective strategies that reduce vulnerability, improve equity and ensure that basic needs are met. Future social development will require socio-political institutions that can adapt to meet the challenges of globalization. The latter often undermines traditional coping mechanisms that have evolved in the past (especially to protect disadvantaged groups).
Social sustainability parallels environmental sustainability. Reducing vulnerability and maintaining the ability of socio-cultural systems to withstand shocks, is also important. Enhancing human capital (through education) and strengthening social values, institutions, and governance are key aspects. Many harmful changes occur slowly, and their long-term effects are often overlooked in socio-economic analysis. Preserving cultural capital and diversity worldwide, strengthening social cohesion, and reducing destructive conflicts, are integral elements of this approach. An important aspect involves empowerment and broader participation through subsidiarity – i.e., decentralization of decision-making to the lowest (or most local) level at which it is still effective. In summary, for both ecological and socioeconomic systems, the emphasis is on improving system health and its dynamic ability to adapt to change across a range of spatial and temporal scales, rather than the conservation of some ‘ideal’ static state.
Poverty and Equity
Poverty and equity are two important issues, which have social, economic and environmental dimensions (see Figure 1). Over 2.8 billion people (almost half the global population) live on less than US$2 per day, and 1.2 billion barely survive on under US$1 per day. The top 20 percentile of the world’s population consumes about 83 percent of total output, while the bottom 20 percentile consumes only 1.4 percent. Income disparities are worsening – the per capita ratio between the richest and the poorest 20 percentile groups was 30 to 1 in 1960 and over 80 to 1 by 1995.
Equity is an ethical and usually people-oriented concept with primarily social, and some economic and environmental dimensions. It focuses on the basic fairness of both decision-making processes and outcomes. Equity may be assessed in terms of several generic approaches, including parity, proportionality, priority, utilitarianism, and Rawlsian distributive justice. Societies normally seek to achieve equity (or fairness) by balancing and combining several of these criteria.
Sen states that poverty alleviation, entitlements, improved income distribution and intra-generational (or spatial) equity are key aspects of economic policies seeking to increase overall human welfare. Broadly speaking, economic efficiency provides guidance on producing and consuming goods and services more efficiently, but is unable to provide a means of choosing (from a social perspective) among alternative patterns of consumption which are efficient. Equity principles provide better tools for making judgments about such choices.
Social equity is also linked to sustainability, because grossly unfair distributions of income and social benefits are unlikely to be lasting in the long run. Equity will be strengthened by enhancing pluralism and grass-roots participation in decision-making, and by empowering disadvantaged groups. Arrow et al state that in the long-term, inter-generational equity is vital, where both equity and efficiency aspects are affected by the economic discount rate. The sustainomics framework outlines methods of reconciling potential conflicts between equity and economic efficiency.
Equity in the environmental sense has received recent attention because of disproportionately greater environmental damages suffered by poor groups. Thus, poverty alleviation efforts are being broadened (beyond raising monetary incomes), to address the degraded environmental and social conditions facing the poor.
In summary, both equity and poverty have economic, as well as social and environmental dimensions, and therefore, they need to be assessed using a comprehensive set of indicators. Economic policies should emphasise expanding employment and gainful opportunities for poor people through growth, improving access to markets, and increasing both assets and education. Social policies need to focus on empowerment and inclusion, by making institutions more responsive to the poor and removing barriers that exclude disadvantaged groups. Environmental measures to help poor people might seek to reduce their vulnerability to disasters, crop failures, loss of employment, sickness, economic shocks, etc. Thus, an important objective of poverty alleviation is to provide poor people with assets (e.g., social, natural and economic), that will reduce their vulnerability, and increase the capacity for both short-run coping and longer-run adaptation to external shocks. The foregoing ideas blend with the sustainable livelihoods approach, which focuses on access to portfolios of assets, capacity to withstand shocks, gainful employment, and social processes.
An even broader non-anthropocentric approach to equity involves the concept of fairness in the treatment of non-human forms of life or even inanimate nature. One view asserts that humans have the responsibility of prudent ‘stewardship’ over nature, which goes beyond mere rights of usage.
Consistent integration of economic, social and environmental considerations
We begin by comparing the concepts of ecological, social and economic sustainability. Maintaining the set of opportunities is as important as the preservation of the asset base. The preservation of biodiversity maintains options and allows the system to retain resilience by protecting it from external shocks, in the same manner that preservation of the capital stock protects economic assets for future consumption. Differences emerge because under the economic definition, a society that consumes its fixed capital without replacement is not sustainable, whereas using an ecological approach, loss of resilience implies a reduction in the self-organization of the system, but not necessarily a loss in productivity. In the case of social systems, resilience depends on the capacity of human societies to adapt and continue functioning in the face of stress and shocks. Socio-cultural and ecological sustainability are linked because of the organizational similarities between human societies and ecological systems, and the parallels between biodiversity and cultural diversity. In the longer-term, the concept of co-evolution of social, economic and ecological systems within a larger, more complex adaptive system, provides useful insights regarding harmonious integration of the various elements of sustainable development (see Figure 1).
According to Munasinghe, it is important to integrate and reconcile the economic, social and environmental aspects within a holistic and balanced sustainable development framework. Two broad approaches, based on the concepts of optimality and durability, are relevant for this purpose.
Optimality
The optimality-based approach has been widely used in economic analysis to generally maximize welfare (or utility), subject to the requirement that the stock of productive assets (or welfare itself) is non-decreasing in the long-term. This assumption is common to most sustainable economic growth models. The essence of the approach is illustrated by the simple example of maximization of the flow of aggregate welfare (W), cumulatively discounted over infinite time (t), as represented by the expression:
Here, W is a function of C (consumption), and Z (set of other relevant variables), while r is the discount rate. Side constraints may be imposed to satisfy sustainability needs – e.g., non-decreasing stocks of productive assets.
Some ecological models also optimize variables related to system vigor, like energy use, nutrient flow, or biomass production. In economic models, utility is often measured in terms of net benefits of economic activities. More sophisticated economic optimization approaches include environmental and social variables (e.g., by attempting to value environmental externalities, system resilience, etc). However, given the difficulties of quantifying and valuing many such ‘non-economic’ assets, the costs and benefits associated with market-based activities tend to dominate in most economic optimization models.
Basically, the optimal growth path maximizes economic output, while the sustainability requirement is met by ensuring non-decreasing stocks of assets. Some analysts support a ‘strong sustainability’ constraint, which requires separate preservation of each category of critical asset (e.g., manufactured, natural, socio-cultural and human capital), assuming that they are complements rather than substitutes. Other researchers have argued in favor of ‘weak sustainability,’ which seeks to maintain the aggregate monetary value of the total stock of assets, assuming that various asset types are substitutes and may be valued.
Side constraints are often necessary, because the optimization approach (including economic efficiency and valuation) may not be easily applied to ecological objectives like protecting biodiversity and improving resilience, or to social goals such as promoting equity and empowerment. Such environmental and social variables cannot be easily incorporated within a single valued objective function based on cost-benefit analysis. Thus, techniques like multi-criteria analysis may be required to facilitate trade-offs among non-commensurable variables. Moreover, the lagged price system might not anticipate irreversible environmental and social harm, and non-linear system responses that could lead to catastrophic collapse. Therefore, non-economic indicators of environmental and social status are helpful. The constraints on critical environmental and social indicators are proxies representing safe thresholds, which help to maintain the viability of those systems. Risk and uncertainty also necessitate the use of decision analysis tools.
Durability
The second broad integrative approach focuses primarily on sustaining the quality of life – e.g., by satisfying environmental, social and economic sustainability requirements. Such a framework favors ‘durable’ development paths that permit growth, but are not necessarily economically optimal. There is more willingness to trade off some economic optimality for the sake of greater safety (i.e., risk aversion), in order to stay within critical environmental, social and technical limits.
Economic system durability might require consumption levels to be maintained – i.e., per capita consumption that never falls below some minimum level, or is non-declining. Environmental and social durability requirements may be expressed in terms of indicators of ‘state’ that monitor the longevity and normal functioning of complex ecological, social and techno-economic systems. There is the likelihood of further interaction here due to linkages between the sustainability of social, ecological and techno-economic systems – e.g., social disruption and conflict could exacerbate damage to both ecological and techno-economic systems, and vice versa. By contrast, long-standing social norms in stable traditional societies have helped to protect the environment.
Durability encourages a holistic systemic viewpoint, which is important in sustainomics analysis. The self-organizing and internal structure of complex systems often make ‘the whole more durable (and valuable) than the sum of the parts’. A narrow definition of efficiency based on marginal analysis of individual components may be misleading. For example, it is more difficult to value the integrated functional diversity in a forest ecosystem than the individual species of trees and animals. Therefore, the former is more likely to fall victim to market failure (as an externality). Furthermore, even where correct environmental shadow prices prevail, some analysts point out that economic cost minimization could lead to homogenization and consequent reductions in system diversity. Broader systems analysis also helps to identify the benefits of cooperative structures and behavior, which a more partial analysis may neglect.
The possibility of many durable paths favors simulation-based methods, including consideration of alternative futures (rather than one optimal result). This approach parallels research on integrating human actors into ecological models, including multiple-agent modeling to account for heterogeneous behavior, bounded rationality leading to different perceptions and biases, and social interactions involving imitation, reciprocity and comparison.
In the durability approach, maintaining asset stocks enhances system sustainability, because various forms of capital are a bulwark that decreases vulnerability to external shocks and reduces irreversible harm, rather than merely producing more economic outputs. System vulnerability, resilience, vigor, organization and ability to adapt will depend dynamically on the capital endowment as well as the magnitude and rate of change of a shock.
Indicators
The status of asset stocks helps to assess whether development is becoming more sustainable. Therefore, it is important to identify relevant economic, social and environmental indicators, at different levels of aggregation ranging from the global/macro to local/micro. Indicators must be comprehensive in scope, multi-dimensional in nature (where appropriate), and account for spatial differences.
Measuring economic, environmental, human and social capital also raises various problems. Manufactured capital may be estimated using conventional neoclassical economic analysis. Market prices are useful when economic distortions are relatively low, while shadow prices could be applied in cases where market prices are unreliable. Natural capital needs to be quantified first in terms of key physical attributes. Typically, damage to natural capital may be assessed by the level of air pollution (e.g., concentrations of suspended particulate, sulfur dioxide or greenhouse gases), water pollution (e.g., biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) or chemical oxygen demand (COD)), and land degradation (e.g., soil erosion or deforestation). Then this physical damage could be valued using environmental and resource economics techniques. Human resource stocks are often measured by educational levels, productivity and earning potential. Social capital is more difficult to assess. Putnam described it as ‘horizontal associations’ among people, or social networks and associated behavioral norms and values, which affect the productivity of communities. Social capital may be viewed more broadly in terms of social structures, which facilitate the activities of agents in society – including both horizontal and vertical associations (like firms). An even wider definition is implied by the institutional approach that includes not only the mainly informal relationships implied by the earlier two views, but also more formal frameworks provided by governments, political systems, and legal provisions. Recent work has sought to distinguish between social and political capital (i.e., the networks of power and influence that link individuals and communities to the higher levels of decision-making).
Complementarity and convergence of optimal and durable approaches
The two approaches are often complementary in national economic management. For example, economy-wide policies involving both fiscal and monetary measures (e.g., taxes, subsidies, interest and foreign exchange rates) might be optimized using quantitative macroeconomic models. Nevertheless, decision-makers inevitably modify these economically ‘optimal’ policies before implementing them, to take into account other ‘durable’ sociopolitical considerations (like poverty alleviation, regional factors, etc.), which facilitate governance and stability. The determination of an appropriate target trajectory for future global greenhouse gas emissions provides another useful illustration of the interplay of durability and optimality. Climate change researchers are currently exploring the application of large and complex integrated assessment models that include coupled sub-models representing various ecological, geophysical and socioeconomic systems—with scope to test both optimality and durability approaches.
In practice, the two approaches point towards convergent solutions. First, wastes ought to be generated at rates within the assimilative capacity of the environment. Second, scarce renewable resources should be utilized at rates compatible with the natural rate of regeneration. Third, non-renewable resource use rates should depend on the substitutability between these resources and technological progress. Both wastes and natural resource inputs might be minimized, by moving from linear throughput to closed loop (or recycling) mode. Finally, inter- and intra-generational equity (especially poverty alleviation), pluralistic and consultative decision-making, and enhanced social values and institutions, are important additional aspects.
Tools for Sustainable Development Analysis and Assessment
Some important tools for sustainable development analysis and assessment include: the Action Impact Matrix (AIM) for prioritising the economic, environmental and social interactions of various macroeconomic and sectoral development policies; advanced cost-benefit analysis (CBA) including economic valuation of environmental and social impacts; multi-criteria analysis (MCA), especially in cases where some impacts cannot be easily quantified in monetary terms; and green accounting.
The Action Impact Matrix (AIM) process is the key link from initial data gathering to practical policy application and feedback. Critical sustainable development concerns are incorporated into conventional national development strategy and goals in two main ways: an upward link where sustainable development issues are embedded in the macro-strategy of a country via the medium- to long-term development path; and a downward link where sustainable development issues are integrated into the national development strategy in the short- to medium-term, by carrying out sustainable development assessments (SDA) of micro-level projects and policies.
Sustainable Development Assessment (SDA) is another important tool to ensure balanced analysis of both development and sustainability concerns in both policies and projects. The ‘economic’ component of SDA is based on conventional economic and financial analysis (including cost-benefit analysis). The other two key components are environmental and social assessment (EA and SA). SDA also includes poverty assessment. Thus, SDA seeks to integrate and harmonize economic, environmental and social analyses.
Green accounting includes material and energy balances (MEB) and greened national accounts, notably the System of integrated Environmental and Economic Accounts (SEEA). Physical MEB assess material throughput and the dematerialization of the economy as an ecological sustainability concept. The monetary part of the SEEA measures produced and natural capital maintenance, which reflects an economic sustainability concept.
The World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED 1987) defined sustainable development as “development which meets the needs of the present, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” Among many subsequent definitions, the sustainable development triangle in Figure 1 shows one widely-accepted concept proposed by Munasinghe, at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio. It encompasses three major perspectives—economic, social, and environmental.
Figure 1. Sustainable development triangle – key elements and links (corners, sides, center). Source: Adapted from Munasinghe, 1992, 1994
Historically, the development of the industrialized world focused on material production. Not surprisingly, most industrialized and developing nations have pursued the economic goal of increasing output and growth during the twentieth century. Thus, traditional development was strongly associated with economic growth, with some social aspects as well (see the discussion on poverty and equity, below). By the early 1960s the lack of ‘trickle-down’ benefits to the growing numbers of poor in developing countries, resulted in greater efforts to improve income distribution directly. Consequently, the development paradigm shifted towards equitable growth, where social (distributional) objectives, especially poverty alleviation, were recognized to be as important as economic efficiency. By the early 1980s, a large body of evidence had accumulated that environmental degradation was a major barrier to development, and new proactive safeguards were introduced (such as the environmental assessments). Thus, protection of the environment became the third major element of sustainable development.
Sustainomics has been described by Munasinghe as “a transdisciplinary, integrative, comprehensive, balanced, heuristic and practical framework for making development more sustainable”. It draws on the following basic principles and methods.
Making development more sustainable (MDMS)
The step-by-step approach of “making development more sustainable” (MDMS) becomes the prime objective, while sustainable development is defined as a process (rather than an end point). Since the precise definition of sustainable development remains an elusive and perhaps unreachable goal, a less ambitious strategy that merely seeks to make development more sustainable does offer greater promise. Such a gradient-based method is more practical and permits us to address urgent priorities without delay, because many unsustainable activities are easier to recognize and eliminate. Although MDMS is incremental, it does not imply any limitation in scope (e.g., restricted time horizon or geographic area – see item (c) below). While pursuing the MDMS approach, we also follow a parallel track by continuing our efforts to better define the ultimate goal of sustainable development. Finally, MDMS encourages us to keep future options open and seek robust strategies which meet multiple contingencies and increase resilience.
Sustainable development triangle and balanced viewpoint
Sustainable development requires balanced and integrated analysis from three main perspectives: social, economic, and environmental (Figure 1). Each viewpoint (represented by a vertex) corresponds to a domain (and system) that has its own distinct driving forces and objectives. The economic view is geared towards improving human welfare, primarily through increases in the consumption of goods and services. The environmental domain focuses on protection of the integrity and resilience of ecological systems. The social domain emphasizes the enrichment of human relationships and achievement of individual and group aspirations. The interactions among domains (represented by the sides) are also important to ensure balanced assessment of trade-offs and synergies that might exist among the three dimensions. Issues like poverty may be placed in the center of the triangle to re-emphasize that they are linked to all three dimensions.
Transcending conventional boundaries for better integration
The analysis transcends conventional boundaries imposed by discipline, space, time, stakeholder viewpoints, and operationality. The scope is broadened and extended in all domains, to ensure a comprehensive view. Trans-disciplinary analysis must cover economics, social science and ecology, as well as many other disciplines—since sustainable development itself involves every aspect of human activity, including complex interactions among socioeconomic, ecological and physical systems. Spatial analysis must range from the global to the very local, while the time horizon may extend to decades or centuries. Participation of all stakeholders (including government, private sector and civil society) through inclusion, empowerment and consultation, is important. The analysis needs to encompass the full operational cycle from data gathering to practical policy implementation and monitoring of outcomes. Applying the principle of subsidiarity will make overall governance more effective.
Full cycle application of practical analytical tools
A variety of practical analytical tools also facilitate governance over the full cycle from initial data gathering to ultimate policy implementation.
Two complementary approaches based on “optimality” and “durability” may be used to integrate and synthesize across economic, social and environmental domains, within an integrated assessment modeling framework. An issues-implementation transformation map (IITM) helps to translate issues in the environmental and social domains, into the conventional national economic planning and implementing mechanisms within line ministries and departments.
Restructuring the pattern of development to make economic growth more sustainable is explained through a “policy tunneling” model, especially useful in developing countries, where poverty alleviation will require continued increases in income and consumption. Other practical tools include the Action Impact Matrix (AIM), integrated national economic-environmental accounting (SEEA), sustainable development assessment (SDA), environmental valuation, extended cost-benefit analysis (CBA), multi-criteria analysis (MCA), integrated assessment models (IAMs), and so on. A range of sustainable development indicators help to measure progress and make choices at various levels of aggregation.
In the sustainomics framework, sustainable development is described as a process for improving the range of opportunities that will enable individual human beings and communities to achieve their aspirations and full potential over a sustained period of time, while maintaining the resilience of economic, social and environmental systems. Thus, sustainable development requires both increases in adaptive capacity and opportunities for improving economic, social and ecological systems. According to Gunderson and Holling, improving adaptive capacity increases resilience and sustainability. Expanding the set of opportunities for improvement gives rise to development. Heuristic behavior of individual organisms and systems facilitates learning, the testing of new processes, adaptation, and improvement.
The sustainomics framework recognizes that balance is needed in the relative emphasis placed on traditional development (which is more appealing to the South) versus sustainability (which is emphasised by the North). The approach seeks continuing improvements in the present quality of life at a lower intensity of resource use, thus leaving behind for future generations an undiminished stock of productive assets (i.e., manufactured, natural and social capital) that will improve their quality of life.
Elements of Sustainable Development
Economic Aspects
Economic progress is often evaluated in terms of welfare (or utility) – measured as willingness to pay for goods and services consumed. Thus, many economic policies typically seek to enhance income, and induce more efficient production and consumption of goods and services. The stability of prices and employment are among other important objectives.
Economic efficiency helps maximize income. It is measured against the ideal of Pareto optimality, which encourages actions that will improve the welfare of at least one individual without worsening the situation of anyone else. The idealized, perfectly competitive economy is an important (Pareto optimal) benchmark, where (efficient) market prices play a key role in both allocating productive resources to maximize output, and ensuring optimal consumption choices which maximize consumer utility. If significant economic distortions are present, appropriate shadow prices may be used. The well-known cost-benefit criterion accepts all projects whose net benefits are positive (i.e., aggregate benefits exceed costs). It is based on the weaker ‘quasi’ Pareto condition, which assumes that such net benefits could be redistributed from potential gainers to losers—leaving no one worse off than before. More generally, interpersonal comparisons of welfare are fraught with difficulty – both within and across nations, and over time (e.g., the value of human life).
According to Hicks, economic sustainability seeks to maximize the flow of income that could be generated while at least maintaining the stock of assets (or capital) which yield these beneficial outputs. Economic efficiency continues to optimize both production and consumption. Problems arise in identifying the kinds of capital to be maintained (e.g., manufactured, natural, human and social capital), and their substitutability. Often, it is difficult to value these assets (especially ecological and social resources) and the services they provide. Even key economic assets may be overlooked, especially in situations where non-market based transactions are important. Meanwhile, the equation of welfare with monetary income and consumption has been challenged for many years. More recently, researchers (e.g., Maslow 1970) have identified hierarchies of needs that provide psychic satisfaction, beyond mere goods and services.
The issues of uncertainty, irreversibility and catastrophic collapse pose additional difficulties, in determining dynamically efficient development paths. Many common microeconomic approaches rely on marginal analysis (e.g., comparing incremental costs and benefits of economic activities), which assumes smoothly changing variables. They are inappropriate for analyzing large changes, discontinuous phenomena, and sudden transitions among multiple equilibria. Recent work has begun to explore the behavior of large, non-linear, dynamic and chaotic systems, and concepts like system vulnerability and resilience.
Environmental Aspects
Development in the environmental sense is a recent concern relating to the need to manage scarce natural resources in a prudent manner – because human welfare ultimately depends on ecological services. Ignoring safe ecological limits could undermine long-run prospects for development. Recent literature covers links among environment, growth and sustainable development.
Environmental sustainability focuses on overall viability and normal functioning of natural systems. For ecological systems, sustainability is defined by a comprehensive, multiscale, dynamic, hierarchical measure of resilience, vigor and organization. Resilience is the ability of ecosystems to persist despite external shocks, i.e., the amount of disruption that will cause an ecosystem to switch from one system state to another. An ecosystem state is defined by its internal structure and set of mutually re-inforcing processes. Vigor is associated with the primary productivity or growth of an ecosystem. Organization depends on both complexity and structure of the system. For example, a multicellular organism like a human being is more highly organized than a single-celled amoeba. Higher states of organization imply lower levels of entropy. Thus, the second law of thermodynamics requires that sustainability of complex organisms and systems depend on the use of low-entropy energy derived from their environment, which is returned as (less useful) high-entropy energy.
Natural resource degradation, pollution and loss of biodiversity are detrimental because they reduce resilience, increase vulnerability, and undermine system health. The notions of a safe threshold and carrying capacity are important, to avoid catastrophic ecosystem collapse. Sustainability may be also linked to the normal functioning and longevity of a nested hierarchy of ecological and socioeconomic systems, ordered according to scale – e.g., a human community would consist of many individuals, who are themselves composed of a large number of discrete cells. Gunderson and Holling use the term ‘panarchy’ to denote such a hierarchy of systems and their adaptive cycles across scales. A system at a given level is able to operate in its stable (sustainable) mode, because it is protected by slower and more conservative changes in the super-system above it, while being simultaneously invigorated and energized by faster changes taking place in sub-systems below it.
Sustainable development is not necessarily synonymous with maintaining the ecological status quo. A coupled ecological-socioeconomic system could evolve, while maintaining levels of biodiversity that guarantee resilience of ecosystems on which future human consumption and production depend.
Social Aspects
Social development usually refers to improvements in both individual well-being and overall social welfare resulting from increases in social capital – typically, the accumulation of capacity enabling individuals and communities to work together. According to North, the institutional component of social capital involves formal laws as well as traditional or informal understandings that govern behavior, while the organizational component is embodied in individuals and communities operating within these institutional arrangements. The quantity and quality of social interactions underlying human existence (including levels of mutual trust, and shared social norms and values), determine the stock of social capital. Thus, social capital grows with greater use and erodes through disuse, unlike economic and environmental capital, which are depreciated or depleted by use. We note that some forms of social capital may be harmful (e.g., cooperation within criminal gangs).
There is also an important element of equity and poverty alleviation (see below). Thus, the social dimension of development includes protective strategies that reduce vulnerability, improve equity and ensure that basic needs are met. Future social development will require socio-political institutions that can adapt to meet the challenges of globalization. The latter often undermines traditional coping mechanisms that have evolved in the past (especially to protect disadvantaged groups).
Social sustainability parallels environmental sustainability. Reducing vulnerability and maintaining the ability of socio-cultural systems to withstand shocks, is also important. Enhancing human capital (through education) and strengthening social values, institutions, and governance are key aspects. Many harmful changes occur slowly, and their long-term effects are often overlooked in socio-economic analysis. Preserving cultural capital and diversity worldwide, strengthening social cohesion, and reducing destructive conflicts, are integral elements of this approach. An important aspect involves empowerment and broader participation through subsidiarity – i.e., decentralization of decision-making to the lowest (or most local) level at which it is still effective. In summary, for both ecological and socioeconomic systems, the emphasis is on improving system health and its dynamic ability to adapt to change across a range of spatial and temporal scales, rather than the conservation of some ‘ideal’ static state.
Poverty and Equity
Poverty and equity are two important issues, which have social, economic and environmental dimensions (see Figure 1). Over 2.8 billion people (almost half the global population) live on less than US$2 per day, and 1.2 billion barely survive on under US$1 per day. The top 20 percentile of the world’s population consumes about 83 percent of total output, while the bottom 20 percentile consumes only 1.4 percent. Income disparities are worsening – the per capita ratio between the richest and the poorest 20 percentile groups was 30 to 1 in 1960 and over 80 to 1 by 1995.
Equity is an ethical and usually people-oriented concept with primarily social, and some economic and environmental dimensions. It focuses on the basic fairness of both decision-making processes and outcomes. Equity may be assessed in terms of several generic approaches, including parity, proportionality, priority, utilitarianism, and Rawlsian distributive justice. Societies normally seek to achieve equity (or fairness) by balancing and combining several of these criteria.
Sen states that poverty alleviation, entitlements, improved income distribution and intra-generational (or spatial) equity are key aspects of economic policies seeking to increase overall human welfare. Broadly speaking, economic efficiency provides guidance on producing and consuming goods and services more efficiently, but is unable to provide a means of choosing (from a social perspective) among alternative patterns of consumption which are efficient. Equity principles provide better tools for making judgments about such choices.
Social equity is also linked to sustainability, because grossly unfair distributions of income and social benefits are unlikely to be lasting in the long run. Equity will be strengthened by enhancing pluralism and grass-roots participation in decision-making, and by empowering disadvantaged groups. Arrow et al state that in the long-term, inter-generational equity is vital, where both equity and efficiency aspects are affected by the economic discount rate. The sustainomics framework outlines methods of reconciling potential conflicts between equity and economic efficiency.
Equity in the environmental sense has received recent attention because of disproportionately greater environmental damages suffered by poor groups. Thus, poverty alleviation efforts are being broadened (beyond raising monetary incomes), to address the degraded environmental and social conditions facing the poor.
In summary, both equity and poverty have economic, as well as social and environmental dimensions, and therefore, they need to be assessed using a comprehensive set of indicators. Economic policies should emphasise expanding employment and gainful opportunities for poor people through growth, improving access to markets, and increasing both assets and education. Social policies need to focus on empowerment and inclusion, by making institutions more responsive to the poor and removing barriers that exclude disadvantaged groups. Environmental measures to help poor people might seek to reduce their vulnerability to disasters, crop failures, loss of employment, sickness, economic shocks, etc. Thus, an important objective of poverty alleviation is to provide poor people with assets (e.g., social, natural and economic), that will reduce their vulnerability, and increase the capacity for both short-run coping and longer-run adaptation to external shocks. The foregoing ideas blend with the sustainable livelihoods approach, which focuses on access to portfolios of assets, capacity to withstand shocks, gainful employment, and social processes.
An even broader non-anthropocentric approach to equity involves the concept of fairness in the treatment of non-human forms of life or even inanimate nature. One view asserts that humans have the responsibility of prudent ‘stewardship’ over nature, which goes beyond mere rights of usage.
Consistent integration of economic, social and environmental considerations
We begin by comparing the concepts of ecological, social and economic sustainability. Maintaining the set of opportunities is as important as the preservation of the asset base. The preservation of biodiversity maintains options and allows the system to retain resilience by protecting it from external shocks, in the same manner that preservation of the capital stock protects economic assets for future consumption. Differences emerge because under the economic definition, a society that consumes its fixed capital without replacement is not sustainable, whereas using an ecological approach, loss of resilience implies a reduction in the self-organization of the system, but not necessarily a loss in productivity. In the case of social systems, resilience depends on the capacity of human societies to adapt and continue functioning in the face of stress and shocks. Socio-cultural and ecological sustainability are linked because of the organizational similarities between human societies and ecological systems, and the parallels between biodiversity and cultural diversity. In the longer-term, the concept of co-evolution of social, economic and ecological systems within a larger, more complex adaptive system, provides useful insights regarding harmonious integration of the various elements of sustainable development (see Figure 1).
According to Munasinghe, it is important to integrate and reconcile the economic, social and environmental aspects within a holistic and balanced sustainable development framework. Two broad approaches, based on the concepts of optimality and durability, are relevant for this purpose.
Optimality
The optimality-based approach has been widely used in economic analysis to generally maximize welfare (or utility), subject to the requirement that the stock of productive assets (or welfare itself) is non-decreasing in the long-term. This assumption is common to most sustainable economic growth models. The essence of the approach is illustrated by the simple example of maximization of the flow of aggregate welfare (W), cumulatively discounted over infinite time (t), as represented by the expression:
Here, W is a function of C (consumption), and Z (set of other relevant variables), while r is the discount rate. Side constraints may be imposed to satisfy sustainability needs – e.g., non-decreasing stocks of productive assets.
Some ecological models also optimize variables related to system vigor, like energy use, nutrient flow, or biomass production. In economic models, utility is often measured in terms of net benefits of economic activities. More sophisticated economic optimization approaches include environmental and social variables (e.g., by attempting to value environmental externalities, system resilience, etc). However, given the difficulties of quantifying and valuing many such ‘non-economic’ assets, the costs and benefits associated with market-based activities tend to dominate in most economic optimization models.
Basically, the optimal growth path maximizes economic output, while the sustainability requirement is met by ensuring non-decreasing stocks of assets. Some analysts support a ‘strong sustainability’ constraint, which requires separate preservation of each category of critical asset (e.g., manufactured, natural, socio-cultural and human capital), assuming that they are complements rather than substitutes. Other researchers have argued in favor of ‘weak sustainability,’ which seeks to maintain the aggregate monetary value of the total stock of assets, assuming that various asset types are substitutes and may be valued.
Side constraints are often necessary, because the optimization approach (including economic efficiency and valuation) may not be easily applied to ecological objectives like protecting biodiversity and improving resilience, or to social goals such as promoting equity and empowerment. Such environmental and social variables cannot be easily incorporated within a single valued objective function based on cost-benefit analysis. Thus, techniques like multi-criteria analysis may be required to facilitate trade-offs among non-commensurable variables. Moreover, the lagged price system might not anticipate irreversible environmental and social harm, and non-linear system responses that could lead to catastrophic collapse. Therefore, non-economic indicators of environmental and social status are helpful. The constraints on critical environmental and social indicators are proxies representing safe thresholds, which help to maintain the viability of those systems. Risk and uncertainty also necessitate the use of decision analysis tools.
Durability
The second broad integrative approach focuses primarily on sustaining the quality of life – e.g., by satisfying environmental, social and economic sustainability requirements. Such a framework favors ‘durable’ development paths that permit growth, but are not necessarily economically optimal. There is more willingness to trade off some economic optimality for the sake of greater safety (i.e., risk aversion), in order to stay within critical environmental, social and technical limits.
Economic system durability might require consumption levels to be maintained – i.e., per capita consumption that never falls below some minimum level, or is non-declining. Environmental and social durability requirements may be expressed in terms of indicators of ‘state’ that monitor the longevity and normal functioning of complex ecological, social and techno-economic systems. There is the likelihood of further interaction here due to linkages between the sustainability of social, ecological and techno-economic systems – e.g., social disruption and conflict could exacerbate damage to both ecological and techno-economic systems, and vice versa. By contrast, long-standing social norms in stable traditional societies have helped to protect the environment.
Durability encourages a holistic systemic viewpoint, which is important in sustainomics analysis. The self-organizing and internal structure of complex systems often make ‘the whole more durable (and valuable) than the sum of the parts’. A narrow definition of efficiency based on marginal analysis of individual components may be misleading. For example, it is more difficult to value the integrated functional diversity in a forest ecosystem than the individual species of trees and animals. Therefore, the former is more likely to fall victim to market failure (as an externality). Furthermore, even where correct environmental shadow prices prevail, some analysts point out that economic cost minimization could lead to homogenization and consequent reductions in system diversity. Broader systems analysis also helps to identify the benefits of cooperative structures and behavior, which a more partial analysis may neglect.
The possibility of many durable paths favors simulation-based methods, including consideration of alternative futures (rather than one optimal result). This approach parallels research on integrating human actors into ecological models, including multiple-agent modeling to account for heterogeneous behavior, bounded rationality leading to different perceptions and biases, and social interactions involving imitation, reciprocity and comparison.
In the durability approach, maintaining asset stocks enhances system sustainability, because various forms of capital are a bulwark that decreases vulnerability to external shocks and reduces irreversible harm, rather than merely producing more economic outputs. System vulnerability, resilience, vigor, organization and ability to adapt will depend dynamically on the capital endowment as well as the magnitude and rate of change of a shock.
Indicators
The status of asset stocks helps to assess whether development is becoming more sustainable. Therefore, it is important to identify relevant economic, social and environmental indicators, at different levels of aggregation ranging from the global/macro to local/micro. Indicators must be comprehensive in scope, multi-dimensional in nature (where appropriate), and account for spatial differences.
Measuring economic, environmental, human and social capital also raises various problems. Manufactured capital may be estimated using conventional neoclassical economic analysis. Market prices are useful when economic distortions are relatively low, while shadow prices could be applied in cases where market prices are unreliable. Natural capital needs to be quantified first in terms of key physical attributes. Typically, damage to natural capital may be assessed by the level of air pollution (e.g., concentrations of suspended particulate, sulfur dioxide or greenhouse gases), water pollution (e.g., biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) or chemical oxygen demand (COD)), and land degradation (e.g., soil erosion or deforestation). Then this physical damage could be valued using environmental and resource economics techniques. Human resource stocks are often measured by educational levels, productivity and earning potential. Social capital is more difficult to assess. Putnam described it as ‘horizontal associations’ among people, or social networks and associated behavioral norms and values, which affect the productivity of communities. Social capital may be viewed more broadly in terms of social structures, which facilitate the activities of agents in society – including both horizontal and vertical associations (like firms). An even wider definition is implied by the institutional approach that includes not only the mainly informal relationships implied by the earlier two views, but also more formal frameworks provided by governments, political systems, and legal provisions. Recent work has sought to distinguish between social and political capital (i.e., the networks of power and influence that link individuals and communities to the higher levels of decision-making).
Complementarity and convergence of optimal and durable approaches
The two approaches are often complementary in national economic management. For example, economy-wide policies involving both fiscal and monetary measures (e.g., taxes, subsidies, interest and foreign exchange rates) might be optimized using quantitative macroeconomic models. Nevertheless, decision-makers inevitably modify these economically ‘optimal’ policies before implementing them, to take into account other ‘durable’ sociopolitical considerations (like poverty alleviation, regional factors, etc.), which facilitate governance and stability. The determination of an appropriate target trajectory for future global greenhouse gas emissions provides another useful illustration of the interplay of durability and optimality. Climate change researchers are currently exploring the application of large and complex integrated assessment models that include coupled sub-models representing various ecological, geophysical and socioeconomic systems—with scope to test both optimality and durability approaches.
In practice, the two approaches point towards convergent solutions. First, wastes ought to be generated at rates within the assimilative capacity of the environment. Second, scarce renewable resources should be utilized at rates compatible with the natural rate of regeneration. Third, non-renewable resource use rates should depend on the substitutability between these resources and technological progress. Both wastes and natural resource inputs might be minimized, by moving from linear throughput to closed loop (or recycling) mode. Finally, inter- and intra-generational equity (especially poverty alleviation), pluralistic and consultative decision-making, and enhanced social values and institutions, are important additional aspects.
Tools for Sustainable Development Analysis and Assessment
Some important tools for sustainable development analysis and assessment include: the Action Impact Matrix (AIM) for prioritising the economic, environmental and social interactions of various macroeconomic and sectoral development policies; advanced cost-benefit analysis (CBA) including economic valuation of environmental and social impacts; multi-criteria analysis (MCA), especially in cases where some impacts cannot be easily quantified in monetary terms; and green accounting.
The Action Impact Matrix (AIM) process is the key link from initial data gathering to practical policy application and feedback. Critical sustainable development concerns are incorporated into conventional national development strategy and goals in two main ways: an upward link where sustainable development issues are embedded in the macro-strategy of a country via the medium- to long-term development path; and a downward link where sustainable development issues are integrated into the national development strategy in the short- to medium-term, by carrying out sustainable development assessments (SDA) of micro-level projects and policies.
Sustainable Development Assessment (SDA) is another important tool to ensure balanced analysis of both development and sustainability concerns in both policies and projects. The ‘economic’ component of SDA is based on conventional economic and financial analysis (including cost-benefit analysis). The other two key components are environmental and social assessment (EA and SA). SDA also includes poverty assessment. Thus, SDA seeks to integrate and harmonize economic, environmental and social analyses.
Green accounting includes material and energy balances (MEB) and greened national accounts, notably the System of integrated Environmental and Economic Accounts (SEEA). Physical MEB assess material throughput and the dematerialization of the economy as an ecological sustainability concept. The monetary part of the SEEA measures produced and natural capital maintenance, which reflects an economic sustainability concept.
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
bumi terancam...
Laporan Kualiti Alam Sekeliling 2003 menyatakan Malaysia turut mengalami kemerosotan kualiti alam sekitar di mana 51% sungai di Malaysia dikategorikan sebagai tercemar dan sedikit tercemar berpunca daripada pelepasan kumbahan, effluen industri dan aktiviti pembangunan. Penipisan lapisan ozon telah menyebabkan pemanasan global (global warming) dan membawa implikasi negatif ke atas tumbuh-tumbuhan dan kehidupan laut. Pelepasan bahan kimia dan buangan toksik seperti racun perosak DDT, polychlorinated biphenlys (PCBs) dan endocrine disruptors ke alam sekitar dikenalpasti boleh diserap oleh tubuh dan terkumpul di dalam tisu lemak (fatty tissues) manusia. Ini menyebabkan gangguan kepada fungsi hormon, kanser dan kecacatan kelahiran. Ancaman terhadap kepelbagaian biologi (biodiversity) boleh menjejaskan ekosistem (contoh - pembersihan air yang berlaku apabila air larian mengalir melalui ekosistem berkaitan dan tanah lembap).
Penulis turut mengenengahkan keperluan manusia memelihara alam sekitar dari perspektif agama. Perbincangan berkisar tentang pandangan Islam terhadap alam semesta; konsep Islam tentang pembangunan; konsep manusia sebagai khalifah; akauntabiliti terhadap Allah S.W.T. dan sesame manusia; serta konsep pemuliharaan alam sekitar sebagai satu ibadah. Secara umumnya setiap orang adalah bertanggungjawab ke atas semua tindak tanduknya termasuklah dalam aspek pemuliharaan alam sekitar dan ia akan dihisab di atas apa yang telah dipertanggungjawabkan ke atasnya.
Salah satu cabaran paling getir yang dihadapi manusia sekarang ialah menguruskan alam sekitar secara bijak. Natijah daripada pengurusan yang tidak bijak ialah tercetusnya krisis alam sekitar yang mengancam kehidupan manusia itu sendiri di atas planet ini. Tidak pernah terjadi ancaman itu sebegini meluas jangkauannya dan berpanjangan kesannya seperti ancaman yang dihadapi pada masa kini. Wawasan 2020 yang diilhamkan oleh bekas Perdana Menteri Malaysia, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamed juga mengenalpasti cabaran terhadap alam sekitar sebagai salah satu cabaran yang perlu ditangani oleh Malaysia dalam perjalanannya ke destinasi menjadi negara maju pada 2020.
Kalaulah alam sekitar itu penting untuk kelestarian pembangunan negara dan kelangsungan kehidupan manusia di planet ini, kenapakah kita masih acuh tak acuh memelihara dan memuliharanya?. Kenapakah amaran daripada pakar-pakar tidak diindah oleh kita semua?. Dalam kemelut yang bermacam ragam yang dihadapi dunia sekarang, ramai sarjana barat dan timur menganjurkan manusia kembali semula kepada agama untuk mendapat petunjuk untuk mengatasi kemelut ini. Apakah ada apa-apa peranan dapat dimainkan oleh agama dalam hal ini dan adakh agama dapat mengemukakan pedoman dan tuntunan yang boleh menyuluhi kegelapan yang dihadapi oleh manusia? Kertas ini akan cuba mengupas soalan penting ini.
2. KRISIS ALAM SEKITAR - SEPINTAS LALU
2.1 Pencemaran
Pencemaran udara termasuk carbon monoksida, ozon, sulfur dioksida, oksida-oksida nitrogen dan partikulat. Pencemarpencemar ini secara asasnya terhasil daripada pembakaran bahan api fossil, terutamanya oleh loji janakuasa yang menggunakan arangbatu dan kenderaan yang menggunakan petrol. Oksida-oksida nitrogen boleh menyebabkan terbentuknya ozon di paras bumi (ground level ozone). Partikulat pula dihasilkan dari pelbagai punca termasuk kenderaan disel. Udara di bandar - bandar biasanya mengandungi campuran pelbagai pencemar yang disebut di atas dan boleh mendatangkan pelbagai kesan negatif kepada manusia.
Pendedahan kepada karbon monoksida melambatkan tindakbalas dan menyebabkan rasa mengantuk dan nitrogen dioksida boleh memburukkan lagi penyakit lelah (asthma) dan mengurangkan fungsi paru-paru (lung function). Ozon juga menyebabkan inflamasi paru-paru (lung inflammation) dan mengurangkan fungsi paru-paru dan keupayaan bergerak (exercise capacity). Organisasi Kesihatan Dunia (World Health Organization) melaporkan bahawa tiga (3) juta orang mati setiap tahun disebabkan pencemaran udara. Ini adalah tiga (3) kali lebih tinggi daripada jumlah kematian yang disebabkan kemalangan kenderaan. Pencemaran air pula disebabkan oleh pelbagai aktiviti manusia termasuk pelepasan dari industri yang mengandungi pelbagai jenis pencemar termasuk bahan organik, bahan kimia dan juga pencemar fizikal.
Di antara pencemar ini yang berbahaya ialah logam-logam berat dan pelbagai non-biodegradable compounds yang sebahagiannya mempunyai kesan ketara ke atas kesihatan manusia di dalam jangkamasa panjang. Dunia telah menyaksikan dan sejarah telah merakamkan episod malapetaka alam sekitar di merata dunia. Malaysia juga tidak terlepas daripada berkongsi pengalaman mengalami kemerosotan kualiti alam sekitar, walaupun dalam skala yang lebih rendah. Laporan Kualiti Alam Sekeliling 2003 melaporkan kualiti udara di bandarbandar besar dan beberapa lokasi di Malaysia telah dicemari oleh pelepasan dari kenderaan dan juga industri. 51% daripada sungaisungai di Malaysia juga mengalami pencemaran dan dikategorikan sebagai tercemar dan sedikit tercemar, terutamanya disebabkan oleh pelepasan kumbahan, effluen industri dan aktiviti pembangunan tanah.
2.2 Penipisan Lapisan Ozon
Allah S.W.T. telah menyediakan lapisan gas (yang dikenali sebagai lapisan ozon) di ketinggian lebih kurang 20 - 40 km dari paras bumi berfungsi sebagai penghalang kepada sinaran ultra ungu (UV) daripada sampai ke permukaan bumi. UV adalah sinaran berkuasa tinggi yang merbahaya kepada manusia dan ekosistem. Namun begitu lapisan ozon ini telah mengalami kemusnahan dan menjadi nipis disebabkan oleh penggunaan bahan chlorofluoro carbon (CFC). Fenomena penipisan lapisan ozon ini dikenali umum sebagai fenomena Ôlubang ozonÕ (ozone hole).
CFC adalah kimia buatan manusia yang mempunyai pelbagai kegunaan oleh industri dan komersial. Penipisan lapisan ozon memberi implikasi ketara ke atas tumbuh-tumbuhan dan bendabenda bernyawa. Sinaran UV-B boleh menyebabkan penyakit mata (cataract, snow blindness), kanser kulit, mempengaruhi sistem kelalian (immune system) dan kemusnahan bahan genetic DNA. Walaupun kesan ke atas tumbuhan dan binatang kurang difahami daripada kesannya ke atas manusia, kajian menunjukkan tumbuhan mengalami kesan negatif daripada snaran UV. Hasil tanaman akan berkurangan dan ini bermakna penghasilan makanan yang lebih rendah dari setiap unit keluasan tanah. Kehidupan laut juga terjejas apabila sinaran UV mendatangkan kemudaratan ke atas plankton tumbuhan dan binatang.
Pelepasan CFC juga menyebabkan pemanasan global (global warming) melalui dua cara; iaitu pertamanya sebagai gas rumah hijau yang menyerap haba. Suhu bumi akan meningkat yang mengakibatkan perubahan iklim. Keduanya, pemusnahan ozon menyebabkan lebih banyak sinaran matahari masuk dan memanaskan atmosfera rendah. Pemanasan global boleh menyebabkan kawasankawasan rendah dan juga negara-negara yang terletak di paras rendah ditenggelami air akibat peningkatan paras laut. Peningkatan sinaran UV di permukaan bumi juga mengakibatkan pencemaran udara menjadi lebih buruk. Interaksi pelepasan dari punca bergerak dan industri menyediakan keadaan yang kondusif bagi penghasilan ozon, di permukaan bumi yang akibat peningkatan paras laut.
Peningkatan sinaran UV di permukaan bumi juga mengakibatkan pencemaran udara menjadi lebih buruk. Interaksi pelepasan dari punca bergerak dan industry menyediakan keadaan yang kondusif bagi penghasilan ozon, di permukaan bumi yang mana menjadi bahan toksik kepada manusia dan tumbuhan. Sinaran UV juga menyebabkan kerosakan dan kepada polimer yang digunakan di dalam bangunan, cat, bahan pembungkusan (packaging) dan lain-lain.
2.3 Bahan Kimia dan Buangan Toksik
Salah satu ciri kehidupan moden ialah kebergantungan manusia kepada bahan kimia. Setiap tahun beribu-ribu bahan kimia baru dihasilkan untuk pelbagai kegunaan. Terdapat banyak peringkat bahan-bahan kimia masuk ke alam sekitar seperti:
(i) Ada bahan kimia yang memang cara penggunaannya memerlukan produk tersebut sepenuhnya dimasukkan ke alam sekitar seperti racun makhluk perosak dan baja.
(ii) Semasa penggunaannya, sebahagian bahan akan dilepaskan ke alam sekitar seperti penguapan bahan pelarut dari cat dan gam (adhesives).
(iii) Pelupusan sisa buangan hasil dari proses industri.
(iv) Pelepasan pelarut terpakai, cecair pencuci (cleaning fluid), lubricants yang mungkin mengandungi pencemar-pencemar lain.
(v) Pelupusan bahan kimia dari drum kosong.
(vi) Kebocoran dari tangki penstoran.
(vii) Tumpahan semasa kemalangan industri.
(viii) Tumpahan semasa kemalangan pengangkutan.
Akibat buruk daripada pengurusan buangan toksik di masa lampau yang tidak teratur masih menghantui masyarakat dunia. Penggunaan racun makhluk perosak DDT secara tidak terkawal telah dikenalpasti menyebabkan bahan ini terkumpul di dalam tisu lemak (fatty tissues) manusia dan juga dalam kehidupan lain yang tinggal jauh dari tempat penggunaan bahan tersebut. Perkara ini telah dibangkitkan untuk perhatian masyarakat dunia pertama kali pada 1962 oleh Rachel Carson dalam bukunya Silent Spring. Pelepasan effluen mengandungi methyl mercury oleh sebuah kilang kimia di Teluk Minamata, Jepun telah menyebabkan beratus-ratus kes lumpuh dan kelumpuhan deria (sensory loss). Inorganic mercury ini telah mengalami proses bioaccumulation di dalam hidupan laut (shellfish) yang menjadi sumber protin penduduk di sekitar teluk tersebut.
Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) juga, seperti DDT telah banyak digunakan di sekitar tahun 1960 - 1970 untuk pelbagai tujuan seperti transformer & coolant, plasticizer dan dalam pembuatan kertas tanpa karbon. Pendedahan kepada PCB dan polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs) boleh menyebabkan kaguguran dan kecacatan kelahiran. Namun begitu simbol pencemaran oleh bahan buangan toksik dan merbahaya ialah kes Love Canal, di Amerika Syarikat yang telah membuka mata di seluruh dunia. Buangan toksik telah dilupuskan dengan menanamnya di sebuah terusan yang tidak digunakan selama beberapa puluh tahun. Di atas tapak ini seterusnya dibangunkan sebuah sekolah dan di sekelilingnya juga dibina beratus-ratus rumah kediaman. Tidak berapa lama kemudian penduduk mula menghidu bau bahan kimia dan pelbagai penyakit yang berpunca daripada kimia dialami penduduk tersebut.
Akhirnya Kerajaan membeli kesemua rumah-rumah terlibat dan memindahkan penduduk ke tempat lain. Terdapat juga bahan yang disebut sebagai endocrine disruptors iaitu bahan kimia yang apabila diserap oleh tubuh boleh mengganggu fungsi hormon dan seterusnya boleh mengakibatkan pelbagai kesan dan penyakit seperti kesan ke atas sistem kelalian dan kanser. Endocrine disruptors yang telah dikenalpasti memberi kesan kepada manusia ialah dioksin, PCBs dan DDT. Banyak bahan kimia terutama racun makhluk perosak adalah suspected endocrine disruptors berdasarkan kajian yang terhad ke atas binatang.
2.4 Kepelbagaian Biologi (Biodiversity)
Kepelbagaian skala besar disebut kepelbagaian biologi (biodiversity) adalah penting untuk masa depan planet. Kepelbagaian biologi atau biod bermaksud kepelbagaian kehidupan di bumi ini dan kebergantungan mereka kepada satu yang lain. Perubahan atau kehilangan salah satu komponen boleh menyebabkan berlakunya impak yang tidak terjangka dan berbahaya kepada rantaian hidup yang dikenali sebagai ekosistem. Kehidupan manusia bergantung kepada biod melalui cara-cara yang tidak dihargai.
Kebanyakan sumber makanan manusia asalnya diambil dari sumber liar (wild resources) seperti bijirin dan perikanan laut. Kebergantungan kita kepada sumber kayu hutan masih jelas di seluruh dunia di mana sejumlah kecil sahaja dihasilkan dari hutan ladang. Empat daripada 150 ubat preskripsi teratas yang digunakan di Amerika Syarikat mempunyai asalnya daripada bahan semulajadi. Sebagai contoh aspirin pada mulanya diakstrak daripada kulit pokok willow. Eko-pelancongan juga mendapat manfaat dari interaksi kita dengan dunia semulajadi. Terdapat pelbagai bentuk perkhidmatan yang diberi oleh ekosistem (ecosystem services).
Salah satu contoh ialah pembersihan air yang berlaku apabila air larian mengalir melalui ekosistem berkaitan dan tanah lembab. Kewujudan tumbuhan juga berfungsi sebagai sinki yang efisyen bagi pencemarpencemar udara. Aliran air juga diregulasi oleh tumbuhantumbuhan yang terdapat di hulu limbangan yang dapat mengawal pemendapan dan banjir. Dalam jangkamasa yang panjang, kepelbagaian biologi memainkan peranan penting menyelenggara perkhidmatan ekosistem yang mengalami masa naik dan turunnya. Biologi dapat diumpamakan sebagai insurans kesihatan di mana ekosistem yang mempunyai pelbagai sepsis yang memberi fungsi yang sama mempunyai lebih daya tahan menghadapi tekanan alam sekitar dan pulih daripada ancaman dengan lebih cepat.
3. PANDANGAN ISLAM TERHADAP PENGURUSAN ALAM SEKITAR
Islam adalah agama yang membawa rahmat kepada manusia dan alam semesta. Ajaran Islam adalah syumul merangkumi segala aspek kehidupan manusia menjadikannya satu tatacara hidup (comprehensive code of life). Ia memadukan keperluan rohani dan jasmani, kepentingan duniawi dan ukhrawi. Setiap persoalan hidup diberi panduan dan saranan sama ada secara detil ataupun dalam bentuk kaedah-kaedah umum supaya tindaktanduk manusia dipimpin ke jalan yang akan memberi manfaat kepadanya dan alam semesta serta menjauhi kemusnahan dan kemudharatan. Kesyumulan Islam juga terserlah dengan ajaran-ajarannya yang bukan sahaja mengatur tatacara hubungan manusia dengan khaliqnya tetapi juga hubungan di antara manusia sesama manusia dan makhluk Tuhan yang lain. Islam adalah agama akidah dan syariah. Tujuan utama akidah ialah memurnikan perhubungan manusia dengan Tuhannya. Di antara tujuan syariat pula ialah menjaga keturunan, harta dan nyawa manusia. Pemusnahan dan pencemaran alam sekitar telah terbukti mengancam ketigatiga perkara tersebut di atas.
3.1 Pandangan Islam Terhadap Alam Semesta
Alam sekitar yang mengkagumkan yang mengelilingi kita; hutan dan tumbuhan yang hijau serta pelbagai warna yang meliputi sebahagian besar dunia; gunung-ganang yang perkasa yang
terpacak sebagai pasak menunjang ke bumi; lautan yang penuh misteri yang tidak henti-hentinya memukul ombak ke pantai, tidak dijadikan dengan sia-sia tanpa tujuan. Bukan saja setiap kejadian Allah S.W.T. mempunyai peranan masing-masing dalam hubungan intim yang disebut ekosistem, malah ianya memenuhi tujuan berikut:
(a) sebagai ayatullah, atau tanda-tanda kebesaran Alllah S.W.T.,
(b) sebagai buku ilmu, yang sentiasa bersedia untuk dikaji dan digali rahsia khazanah ilmu Allah S.W.T. yang tidak habishabisnya,
(c) sebagai hadiah daripada Allah S.W.T. kepada makhluknya untuk dimanfaatkan untuk kesenangan hidup di dunia ini. Allah S.W.T. telah menciptakan makhluk di alam semesta ini dengan penuh keseimbangan (mizan) sama ada dari segi kuantiti dan kualitinya.
Allah S.W.T. berfirman:
Sesungguhnya Kami menjadikan tiap-tiap sesuatu dengan Kadar
(Al-Qamar 54 : 49)
Tiap-tiap sesuatu di sisiNya mempunyai kadar
(Ar-Rad 13 : 8)
Kami tumuhkan tiap sesuatu dengan ukuran
(Al-Hijr 15 : 19)
Kepelbagaian bentuk dan fungsi makhluk ciptaan Allah S.W.T. ini sama ada yang bernyawa atau tidak saling lengkapmelengkapi membolekan alam semesta ini memainkan fungsi yang telah ditetapkan kepadanya dengan penuh tertib sesuai dengan kehendak Penciptanya. Allah S.W.T. juga telah menciptakan segala-galanya dengan penuh bijaksana dan dengan tujuan yang tertentu; bukan dengan sia-sia. Semua makhluk ciptaan Tuhan telah ditetapkan fungsi masing-masing dan simbiosis di antara yang bernyawa dan yang tidak bernyawa melahirkan manfaat dan kebaikan kepada semua.
Allah S.W.T. berfirman:
Bukanlah Kami jadikan langit, bumi dan apa-apa yang di antara keduanya dengan bermain-main. Tiadalah kami jadikan keduanya melainkan dengan kebenaran..
(Ad-Dukhan 44 : 38-39)
3.2 Konsep Islam tentang pembangunan
Pendekatan Islam terhadap usaha membangun dan memanfaatkan sumber-sumber asli dapat disimpulkan dari nasihat Sayyidina Ali bin Abi Talib, Khalifah keempat kepada seorang pengusaha yang telah membangunkan tanah terbiar: Usahakanlah dengan rasa gembira, asalkan engkau seorang yang membawa kepada kebaikan bukan kejahatan; yang berniat untuk membangunkan ladang bukan untuk mendatangkan kemusnahan (Athar diriwayatkan oleh Yahya ibnu Adam dalam kitab al-Kharaj)
Salah satu manifestasi ketidaksyukuran manusia kepada Allah S.W.T. ialah pembaziran dan pemborosan yang telah mengakibatkan pemusnahan sumber dan penghasilan bahan buangan yang bertambah-tambah kuantitinya setiap tahun. Hutan tropika yang penuh dengan khazanah yang tidak ternilai diterokai dan dimusnahkan dengan rakusnya melalui eksploitasi yang tidak berteraskan pengurusan lestari. Habitat untuk hidupan liar juga dimusnahkan bahkan hidupan itu sendiri dibunuh dengan kejam di mana sebahagian daripada badannya akan dijadikan hiasan. Inilah sifat syaitan yang sentiasa tidak bersyukur kepada Tuhannya.
Allah S.W.T. berfirman:
Sesungguhnya orang-orang yang membazir itu adalah saudara syaitan dan syaitan itu amat engkar akan Tuhannya.
( Al-Israk 17 : 27)
Islam memahami dan memberi perhatian tentang dualisma sifat manusia: sifat fizikalnya (jasmani) dan sifat kejiwaannya (rohani). Prinsip pembangunan dalam Islam mengambilkira dualisme ini untuk mempastikan matlamat terakhir pembangunan fizikal ialah untuk menghasilkan ketenangan jiwa. Allah S.W.T. telah menjadikan bumi ini dan seluruh isinya untuk manfaat manusia dan manusia juga telah diperintahkan oleh Allah S.W.T. untuk membangunkan bumi ini.
Allah S.W.T. berfirman:
Dia yang menciptakan untukmu apa-apa yang di bumi semuanya
(Al-Baqarah 2 : 29)
Dia menjadikan kamu daripada bumi serta memakmurkanmu didalamnya
Penulis turut mengenengahkan keperluan manusia memelihara alam sekitar dari perspektif agama. Perbincangan berkisar tentang pandangan Islam terhadap alam semesta; konsep Islam tentang pembangunan; konsep manusia sebagai khalifah; akauntabiliti terhadap Allah S.W.T. dan sesame manusia; serta konsep pemuliharaan alam sekitar sebagai satu ibadah. Secara umumnya setiap orang adalah bertanggungjawab ke atas semua tindak tanduknya termasuklah dalam aspek pemuliharaan alam sekitar dan ia akan dihisab di atas apa yang telah dipertanggungjawabkan ke atasnya.
Salah satu cabaran paling getir yang dihadapi manusia sekarang ialah menguruskan alam sekitar secara bijak. Natijah daripada pengurusan yang tidak bijak ialah tercetusnya krisis alam sekitar yang mengancam kehidupan manusia itu sendiri di atas planet ini. Tidak pernah terjadi ancaman itu sebegini meluas jangkauannya dan berpanjangan kesannya seperti ancaman yang dihadapi pada masa kini. Wawasan 2020 yang diilhamkan oleh bekas Perdana Menteri Malaysia, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamed juga mengenalpasti cabaran terhadap alam sekitar sebagai salah satu cabaran yang perlu ditangani oleh Malaysia dalam perjalanannya ke destinasi menjadi negara maju pada 2020.
Kalaulah alam sekitar itu penting untuk kelestarian pembangunan negara dan kelangsungan kehidupan manusia di planet ini, kenapakah kita masih acuh tak acuh memelihara dan memuliharanya?. Kenapakah amaran daripada pakar-pakar tidak diindah oleh kita semua?. Dalam kemelut yang bermacam ragam yang dihadapi dunia sekarang, ramai sarjana barat dan timur menganjurkan manusia kembali semula kepada agama untuk mendapat petunjuk untuk mengatasi kemelut ini. Apakah ada apa-apa peranan dapat dimainkan oleh agama dalam hal ini dan adakh agama dapat mengemukakan pedoman dan tuntunan yang boleh menyuluhi kegelapan yang dihadapi oleh manusia? Kertas ini akan cuba mengupas soalan penting ini.
2. KRISIS ALAM SEKITAR - SEPINTAS LALU
2.1 Pencemaran
Pencemaran udara termasuk carbon monoksida, ozon, sulfur dioksida, oksida-oksida nitrogen dan partikulat. Pencemarpencemar ini secara asasnya terhasil daripada pembakaran bahan api fossil, terutamanya oleh loji janakuasa yang menggunakan arangbatu dan kenderaan yang menggunakan petrol. Oksida-oksida nitrogen boleh menyebabkan terbentuknya ozon di paras bumi (ground level ozone). Partikulat pula dihasilkan dari pelbagai punca termasuk kenderaan disel. Udara di bandar - bandar biasanya mengandungi campuran pelbagai pencemar yang disebut di atas dan boleh mendatangkan pelbagai kesan negatif kepada manusia.
Pendedahan kepada karbon monoksida melambatkan tindakbalas dan menyebabkan rasa mengantuk dan nitrogen dioksida boleh memburukkan lagi penyakit lelah (asthma) dan mengurangkan fungsi paru-paru (lung function). Ozon juga menyebabkan inflamasi paru-paru (lung inflammation) dan mengurangkan fungsi paru-paru dan keupayaan bergerak (exercise capacity). Organisasi Kesihatan Dunia (World Health Organization) melaporkan bahawa tiga (3) juta orang mati setiap tahun disebabkan pencemaran udara. Ini adalah tiga (3) kali lebih tinggi daripada jumlah kematian yang disebabkan kemalangan kenderaan. Pencemaran air pula disebabkan oleh pelbagai aktiviti manusia termasuk pelepasan dari industri yang mengandungi pelbagai jenis pencemar termasuk bahan organik, bahan kimia dan juga pencemar fizikal.
Di antara pencemar ini yang berbahaya ialah logam-logam berat dan pelbagai non-biodegradable compounds yang sebahagiannya mempunyai kesan ketara ke atas kesihatan manusia di dalam jangkamasa panjang. Dunia telah menyaksikan dan sejarah telah merakamkan episod malapetaka alam sekitar di merata dunia. Malaysia juga tidak terlepas daripada berkongsi pengalaman mengalami kemerosotan kualiti alam sekitar, walaupun dalam skala yang lebih rendah. Laporan Kualiti Alam Sekeliling 2003 melaporkan kualiti udara di bandarbandar besar dan beberapa lokasi di Malaysia telah dicemari oleh pelepasan dari kenderaan dan juga industri. 51% daripada sungaisungai di Malaysia juga mengalami pencemaran dan dikategorikan sebagai tercemar dan sedikit tercemar, terutamanya disebabkan oleh pelepasan kumbahan, effluen industri dan aktiviti pembangunan tanah.
2.2 Penipisan Lapisan Ozon
Allah S.W.T. telah menyediakan lapisan gas (yang dikenali sebagai lapisan ozon) di ketinggian lebih kurang 20 - 40 km dari paras bumi berfungsi sebagai penghalang kepada sinaran ultra ungu (UV) daripada sampai ke permukaan bumi. UV adalah sinaran berkuasa tinggi yang merbahaya kepada manusia dan ekosistem. Namun begitu lapisan ozon ini telah mengalami kemusnahan dan menjadi nipis disebabkan oleh penggunaan bahan chlorofluoro carbon (CFC). Fenomena penipisan lapisan ozon ini dikenali umum sebagai fenomena Ôlubang ozonÕ (ozone hole).
CFC adalah kimia buatan manusia yang mempunyai pelbagai kegunaan oleh industri dan komersial. Penipisan lapisan ozon memberi implikasi ketara ke atas tumbuh-tumbuhan dan bendabenda bernyawa. Sinaran UV-B boleh menyebabkan penyakit mata (cataract, snow blindness), kanser kulit, mempengaruhi sistem kelalian (immune system) dan kemusnahan bahan genetic DNA. Walaupun kesan ke atas tumbuhan dan binatang kurang difahami daripada kesannya ke atas manusia, kajian menunjukkan tumbuhan mengalami kesan negatif daripada snaran UV. Hasil tanaman akan berkurangan dan ini bermakna penghasilan makanan yang lebih rendah dari setiap unit keluasan tanah. Kehidupan laut juga terjejas apabila sinaran UV mendatangkan kemudaratan ke atas plankton tumbuhan dan binatang.
Pelepasan CFC juga menyebabkan pemanasan global (global warming) melalui dua cara; iaitu pertamanya sebagai gas rumah hijau yang menyerap haba. Suhu bumi akan meningkat yang mengakibatkan perubahan iklim. Keduanya, pemusnahan ozon menyebabkan lebih banyak sinaran matahari masuk dan memanaskan atmosfera rendah. Pemanasan global boleh menyebabkan kawasankawasan rendah dan juga negara-negara yang terletak di paras rendah ditenggelami air akibat peningkatan paras laut. Peningkatan sinaran UV di permukaan bumi juga mengakibatkan pencemaran udara menjadi lebih buruk. Interaksi pelepasan dari punca bergerak dan industri menyediakan keadaan yang kondusif bagi penghasilan ozon, di permukaan bumi yang akibat peningkatan paras laut.
Peningkatan sinaran UV di permukaan bumi juga mengakibatkan pencemaran udara menjadi lebih buruk. Interaksi pelepasan dari punca bergerak dan industry menyediakan keadaan yang kondusif bagi penghasilan ozon, di permukaan bumi yang mana menjadi bahan toksik kepada manusia dan tumbuhan. Sinaran UV juga menyebabkan kerosakan dan kepada polimer yang digunakan di dalam bangunan, cat, bahan pembungkusan (packaging) dan lain-lain.
2.3 Bahan Kimia dan Buangan Toksik
Salah satu ciri kehidupan moden ialah kebergantungan manusia kepada bahan kimia. Setiap tahun beribu-ribu bahan kimia baru dihasilkan untuk pelbagai kegunaan. Terdapat banyak peringkat bahan-bahan kimia masuk ke alam sekitar seperti:
(i) Ada bahan kimia yang memang cara penggunaannya memerlukan produk tersebut sepenuhnya dimasukkan ke alam sekitar seperti racun makhluk perosak dan baja.
(ii) Semasa penggunaannya, sebahagian bahan akan dilepaskan ke alam sekitar seperti penguapan bahan pelarut dari cat dan gam (adhesives).
(iii) Pelupusan sisa buangan hasil dari proses industri.
(iv) Pelepasan pelarut terpakai, cecair pencuci (cleaning fluid), lubricants yang mungkin mengandungi pencemar-pencemar lain.
(v) Pelupusan bahan kimia dari drum kosong.
(vi) Kebocoran dari tangki penstoran.
(vii) Tumpahan semasa kemalangan industri.
(viii) Tumpahan semasa kemalangan pengangkutan.
Akibat buruk daripada pengurusan buangan toksik di masa lampau yang tidak teratur masih menghantui masyarakat dunia. Penggunaan racun makhluk perosak DDT secara tidak terkawal telah dikenalpasti menyebabkan bahan ini terkumpul di dalam tisu lemak (fatty tissues) manusia dan juga dalam kehidupan lain yang tinggal jauh dari tempat penggunaan bahan tersebut. Perkara ini telah dibangkitkan untuk perhatian masyarakat dunia pertama kali pada 1962 oleh Rachel Carson dalam bukunya Silent Spring. Pelepasan effluen mengandungi methyl mercury oleh sebuah kilang kimia di Teluk Minamata, Jepun telah menyebabkan beratus-ratus kes lumpuh dan kelumpuhan deria (sensory loss). Inorganic mercury ini telah mengalami proses bioaccumulation di dalam hidupan laut (shellfish) yang menjadi sumber protin penduduk di sekitar teluk tersebut.
Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) juga, seperti DDT telah banyak digunakan di sekitar tahun 1960 - 1970 untuk pelbagai tujuan seperti transformer & coolant, plasticizer dan dalam pembuatan kertas tanpa karbon. Pendedahan kepada PCB dan polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs) boleh menyebabkan kaguguran dan kecacatan kelahiran. Namun begitu simbol pencemaran oleh bahan buangan toksik dan merbahaya ialah kes Love Canal, di Amerika Syarikat yang telah membuka mata di seluruh dunia. Buangan toksik telah dilupuskan dengan menanamnya di sebuah terusan yang tidak digunakan selama beberapa puluh tahun. Di atas tapak ini seterusnya dibangunkan sebuah sekolah dan di sekelilingnya juga dibina beratus-ratus rumah kediaman. Tidak berapa lama kemudian penduduk mula menghidu bau bahan kimia dan pelbagai penyakit yang berpunca daripada kimia dialami penduduk tersebut.
Akhirnya Kerajaan membeli kesemua rumah-rumah terlibat dan memindahkan penduduk ke tempat lain. Terdapat juga bahan yang disebut sebagai endocrine disruptors iaitu bahan kimia yang apabila diserap oleh tubuh boleh mengganggu fungsi hormon dan seterusnya boleh mengakibatkan pelbagai kesan dan penyakit seperti kesan ke atas sistem kelalian dan kanser. Endocrine disruptors yang telah dikenalpasti memberi kesan kepada manusia ialah dioksin, PCBs dan DDT. Banyak bahan kimia terutama racun makhluk perosak adalah suspected endocrine disruptors berdasarkan kajian yang terhad ke atas binatang.
2.4 Kepelbagaian Biologi (Biodiversity)
Kepelbagaian skala besar disebut kepelbagaian biologi (biodiversity) adalah penting untuk masa depan planet. Kepelbagaian biologi atau biod bermaksud kepelbagaian kehidupan di bumi ini dan kebergantungan mereka kepada satu yang lain. Perubahan atau kehilangan salah satu komponen boleh menyebabkan berlakunya impak yang tidak terjangka dan berbahaya kepada rantaian hidup yang dikenali sebagai ekosistem. Kehidupan manusia bergantung kepada biod melalui cara-cara yang tidak dihargai.
Kebanyakan sumber makanan manusia asalnya diambil dari sumber liar (wild resources) seperti bijirin dan perikanan laut. Kebergantungan kita kepada sumber kayu hutan masih jelas di seluruh dunia di mana sejumlah kecil sahaja dihasilkan dari hutan ladang. Empat daripada 150 ubat preskripsi teratas yang digunakan di Amerika Syarikat mempunyai asalnya daripada bahan semulajadi. Sebagai contoh aspirin pada mulanya diakstrak daripada kulit pokok willow. Eko-pelancongan juga mendapat manfaat dari interaksi kita dengan dunia semulajadi. Terdapat pelbagai bentuk perkhidmatan yang diberi oleh ekosistem (ecosystem services).
Salah satu contoh ialah pembersihan air yang berlaku apabila air larian mengalir melalui ekosistem berkaitan dan tanah lembab. Kewujudan tumbuhan juga berfungsi sebagai sinki yang efisyen bagi pencemarpencemar udara. Aliran air juga diregulasi oleh tumbuhantumbuhan yang terdapat di hulu limbangan yang dapat mengawal pemendapan dan banjir. Dalam jangkamasa yang panjang, kepelbagaian biologi memainkan peranan penting menyelenggara perkhidmatan ekosistem yang mengalami masa naik dan turunnya. Biologi dapat diumpamakan sebagai insurans kesihatan di mana ekosistem yang mempunyai pelbagai sepsis yang memberi fungsi yang sama mempunyai lebih daya tahan menghadapi tekanan alam sekitar dan pulih daripada ancaman dengan lebih cepat.
3. PANDANGAN ISLAM TERHADAP PENGURUSAN ALAM SEKITAR
Islam adalah agama yang membawa rahmat kepada manusia dan alam semesta. Ajaran Islam adalah syumul merangkumi segala aspek kehidupan manusia menjadikannya satu tatacara hidup (comprehensive code of life). Ia memadukan keperluan rohani dan jasmani, kepentingan duniawi dan ukhrawi. Setiap persoalan hidup diberi panduan dan saranan sama ada secara detil ataupun dalam bentuk kaedah-kaedah umum supaya tindaktanduk manusia dipimpin ke jalan yang akan memberi manfaat kepadanya dan alam semesta serta menjauhi kemusnahan dan kemudharatan. Kesyumulan Islam juga terserlah dengan ajaran-ajarannya yang bukan sahaja mengatur tatacara hubungan manusia dengan khaliqnya tetapi juga hubungan di antara manusia sesama manusia dan makhluk Tuhan yang lain. Islam adalah agama akidah dan syariah. Tujuan utama akidah ialah memurnikan perhubungan manusia dengan Tuhannya. Di antara tujuan syariat pula ialah menjaga keturunan, harta dan nyawa manusia. Pemusnahan dan pencemaran alam sekitar telah terbukti mengancam ketigatiga perkara tersebut di atas.
3.1 Pandangan Islam Terhadap Alam Semesta
Alam sekitar yang mengkagumkan yang mengelilingi kita; hutan dan tumbuhan yang hijau serta pelbagai warna yang meliputi sebahagian besar dunia; gunung-ganang yang perkasa yang
terpacak sebagai pasak menunjang ke bumi; lautan yang penuh misteri yang tidak henti-hentinya memukul ombak ke pantai, tidak dijadikan dengan sia-sia tanpa tujuan. Bukan saja setiap kejadian Allah S.W.T. mempunyai peranan masing-masing dalam hubungan intim yang disebut ekosistem, malah ianya memenuhi tujuan berikut:
(a) sebagai ayatullah, atau tanda-tanda kebesaran Alllah S.W.T.,
(b) sebagai buku ilmu, yang sentiasa bersedia untuk dikaji dan digali rahsia khazanah ilmu Allah S.W.T. yang tidak habishabisnya,
(c) sebagai hadiah daripada Allah S.W.T. kepada makhluknya untuk dimanfaatkan untuk kesenangan hidup di dunia ini. Allah S.W.T. telah menciptakan makhluk di alam semesta ini dengan penuh keseimbangan (mizan) sama ada dari segi kuantiti dan kualitinya.
Allah S.W.T. berfirman:
Sesungguhnya Kami menjadikan tiap-tiap sesuatu dengan Kadar
(Al-Qamar 54 : 49)
Tiap-tiap sesuatu di sisiNya mempunyai kadar
(Ar-Rad 13 : 8)
Kami tumuhkan tiap sesuatu dengan ukuran
(Al-Hijr 15 : 19)
Kepelbagaian bentuk dan fungsi makhluk ciptaan Allah S.W.T. ini sama ada yang bernyawa atau tidak saling lengkapmelengkapi membolekan alam semesta ini memainkan fungsi yang telah ditetapkan kepadanya dengan penuh tertib sesuai dengan kehendak Penciptanya. Allah S.W.T. juga telah menciptakan segala-galanya dengan penuh bijaksana dan dengan tujuan yang tertentu; bukan dengan sia-sia. Semua makhluk ciptaan Tuhan telah ditetapkan fungsi masing-masing dan simbiosis di antara yang bernyawa dan yang tidak bernyawa melahirkan manfaat dan kebaikan kepada semua.
Allah S.W.T. berfirman:
Bukanlah Kami jadikan langit, bumi dan apa-apa yang di antara keduanya dengan bermain-main. Tiadalah kami jadikan keduanya melainkan dengan kebenaran..
(Ad-Dukhan 44 : 38-39)
3.2 Konsep Islam tentang pembangunan
Pendekatan Islam terhadap usaha membangun dan memanfaatkan sumber-sumber asli dapat disimpulkan dari nasihat Sayyidina Ali bin Abi Talib, Khalifah keempat kepada seorang pengusaha yang telah membangunkan tanah terbiar: Usahakanlah dengan rasa gembira, asalkan engkau seorang yang membawa kepada kebaikan bukan kejahatan; yang berniat untuk membangunkan ladang bukan untuk mendatangkan kemusnahan (Athar diriwayatkan oleh Yahya ibnu Adam dalam kitab al-Kharaj)
Salah satu manifestasi ketidaksyukuran manusia kepada Allah S.W.T. ialah pembaziran dan pemborosan yang telah mengakibatkan pemusnahan sumber dan penghasilan bahan buangan yang bertambah-tambah kuantitinya setiap tahun. Hutan tropika yang penuh dengan khazanah yang tidak ternilai diterokai dan dimusnahkan dengan rakusnya melalui eksploitasi yang tidak berteraskan pengurusan lestari. Habitat untuk hidupan liar juga dimusnahkan bahkan hidupan itu sendiri dibunuh dengan kejam di mana sebahagian daripada badannya akan dijadikan hiasan. Inilah sifat syaitan yang sentiasa tidak bersyukur kepada Tuhannya.
Allah S.W.T. berfirman:
Sesungguhnya orang-orang yang membazir itu adalah saudara syaitan dan syaitan itu amat engkar akan Tuhannya.
( Al-Israk 17 : 27)
Islam memahami dan memberi perhatian tentang dualisma sifat manusia: sifat fizikalnya (jasmani) dan sifat kejiwaannya (rohani). Prinsip pembangunan dalam Islam mengambilkira dualisme ini untuk mempastikan matlamat terakhir pembangunan fizikal ialah untuk menghasilkan ketenangan jiwa. Allah S.W.T. telah menjadikan bumi ini dan seluruh isinya untuk manfaat manusia dan manusia juga telah diperintahkan oleh Allah S.W.T. untuk membangunkan bumi ini.
Allah S.W.T. berfirman:
Dia yang menciptakan untukmu apa-apa yang di bumi semuanya
(Al-Baqarah 2 : 29)
Dia menjadikan kamu daripada bumi serta memakmurkanmu didalamnya
bumi terancam...
Laporan Kualiti Alam Sekeliling 2003 menyatakan Malaysia turut mengalami kemerosotan kualiti alam sekitar di mana 51% sungai di Malaysia dikategorikan sebagai tercemar dan sedikit tercemar berpunca daripada pelepasan kumbahan, effluen industri dan aktiviti pembangunan. Penipisan lapisan ozon telah menyebabkan pemanasan global (global warming) dan membawa implikasi negatif ke atas tumbuh-tumbuhan dan kehidupan laut. Pelepasan bahan kimia dan buangan toksik seperti racun perosak DDT, polychlorinated biphenlys (PCBs) dan endocrine disruptors ke alam sekitar dikenalpasti boleh diserap oleh tubuh dan terkumpul di dalam tisu lemak (fatty tissues) manusia. Ini menyebabkan gangguan kepada fungsi hormon, kanser dan kecacatan kelahiran. Ancaman terhadap kepelbagaian biologi (biodiversity) boleh menjejaskan ekosistem (contoh - pembersihan air yang berlaku apabila air larian mengalir melalui ekosistem berkaitan dan tanah lembap).
Penulis turut mengenengahkan keperluan manusia memelihara alam sekitar dari perspektif agama. Perbincangan berkisar tentang pandangan Islam terhadap alam semesta; konsep Islam tentang pembangunan; konsep manusia sebagai khalifah; akauntabiliti terhadap Allah S.W.T. dan sesame manusia; serta konsep pemuliharaan alam sekitar sebagai satu ibadah. Secara umumnya setiap orang adalah bertanggungjawab ke atas semua tindak tanduknya termasuklah dalam aspek pemuliharaan alam sekitar dan ia akan dihisab di atas apa yang telah dipertanggungjawabkan ke atasnya.
Salah satu cabaran paling getir yang dihadapi manusia sekarang ialah menguruskan alam sekitar secara bijak. Natijah daripada pengurusan yang tidak bijak ialah tercetusnya krisis alam sekitar yang mengancam kehidupan manusia itu sendiri di atas planet ini. Tidak pernah terjadi ancaman itu sebegini meluas jangkauannya dan berpanjangan kesannya seperti ancaman yang dihadapi pada masa kini. Wawasan 2020 yang diilhamkan oleh bekas Perdana Menteri Malaysia, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamed juga mengenalpasti cabaran terhadap alam sekitar sebagai salah satu cabaran yang perlu ditangani oleh Malaysia dalam perjalanannya ke destinasi menjadi negara maju pada 2020.
Kalaulah alam sekitar itu penting untuk kelestarian pembangunan negara dan kelangsungan kehidupan manusia di planet ini, kenapakah kita masih acuh tak acuh memelihara dan memuliharanya?. Kenapakah amaran daripada pakar-pakar tidak diindah oleh kita semua?. Dalam kemelut yang bermacam ragam yang dihadapi dunia sekarang, ramai sarjana barat dan timur menganjurkan manusia kembali semula kepada agama untuk mendapat petunjuk untuk mengatasi kemelut ini. Apakah ada apa-apa peranan dapat dimainkan oleh agama dalam hal ini dan adakh agama dapat mengemukakan pedoman dan tuntunan yang boleh menyuluhi kegelapan yang dihadapi oleh manusia? Kertas ini akan cuba mengupas soalan penting ini.
2. KRISIS ALAM SEKITAR - SEPINTAS LALU
2.1 Pencemaran
Pencemaran udara termasuk carbon monoksida, ozon, sulfur dioksida, oksida-oksida nitrogen dan partikulat. Pencemarpencemar ini secara asasnya terhasil daripada pembakaran bahan api fossil, terutamanya oleh loji janakuasa yang menggunakan arangbatu dan kenderaan yang menggunakan petrol. Oksida-oksida nitrogen boleh menyebabkan terbentuknya ozon di paras bumi (ground level ozone). Partikulat pula dihasilkan dari pelbagai punca termasuk kenderaan disel. Udara di bandar - bandar biasanya mengandungi campuran pelbagai pencemar yang disebut di atas dan boleh mendatangkan pelbagai kesan negatif kepada manusia.
Pendedahan kepada karbon monoksida melambatkan tindakbalas dan menyebabkan rasa mengantuk dan nitrogen dioksida boleh memburukkan lagi penyakit lelah (asthma) dan mengurangkan fungsi paru-paru (lung function). Ozon juga menyebabkan inflamasi paru-paru (lung inflammation) dan mengurangkan fungsi paru-paru dan keupayaan bergerak (exercise capacity). Organisasi Kesihatan Dunia (World Health Organization) melaporkan bahawa tiga (3) juta orang mati setiap tahun disebabkan pencemaran udara. Ini adalah tiga (3) kali lebih tinggi daripada jumlah kematian yang disebabkan kemalangan kenderaan. Pencemaran air pula disebabkan oleh pelbagai aktiviti manusia termasuk pelepasan dari industri yang mengandungi pelbagai jenis pencemar termasuk bahan organik, bahan kimia dan juga pencemar fizikal.
Di antara pencemar ini yang berbahaya ialah logam-logam berat dan pelbagai non-biodegradable compounds yang sebahagiannya mempunyai kesan ketara ke atas kesihatan manusia di dalam jangkamasa panjang. Dunia telah menyaksikan dan sejarah telah merakamkan episod malapetaka alam sekitar di merata dunia. Malaysia juga tidak terlepas daripada berkongsi pengalaman mengalami kemerosotan kualiti alam sekitar, walaupun dalam skala yang lebih rendah. Laporan Kualiti Alam Sekeliling 2003 melaporkan kualiti udara di bandarbandar besar dan beberapa lokasi di Malaysia telah dicemari oleh pelepasan dari kenderaan dan juga industri. 51% daripada sungaisungai di Malaysia juga mengalami pencemaran dan dikategorikan sebagai tercemar dan sedikit tercemar, terutamanya disebabkan oleh pelepasan kumbahan, effluen industri dan aktiviti pembangunan tanah.
2.2 Penipisan Lapisan Ozon
Allah S.W.T. telah menyediakan lapisan gas (yang dikenali sebagai lapisan ozon) di ketinggian lebih kurang 20 - 40 km dari paras bumi berfungsi sebagai penghalang kepada sinaran ultra ungu (UV) daripada sampai ke permukaan bumi. UV adalah sinaran berkuasa tinggi yang merbahaya kepada manusia dan ekosistem. Namun begitu lapisan ozon ini telah mengalami kemusnahan dan menjadi nipis disebabkan oleh penggunaan bahan chlorofluoro carbon (CFC). Fenomena penipisan lapisan ozon ini dikenali umum sebagai fenomena Ôlubang ozonÕ (ozone hole).
CFC adalah kimia buatan manusia yang mempunyai pelbagai kegunaan oleh industri dan komersial. Penipisan lapisan ozon memberi implikasi ketara ke atas tumbuh-tumbuhan dan bendabenda bernyawa. Sinaran UV-B boleh menyebabkan penyakit mata (cataract, snow blindness), kanser kulit, mempengaruhi sistem kelalian (immune system) dan kemusnahan bahan genetic DNA. Walaupun kesan ke atas tumbuhan dan binatang kurang difahami daripada kesannya ke atas manusia, kajian menunjukkan tumbuhan mengalami kesan negatif daripada snaran UV. Hasil tanaman akan berkurangan dan ini bermakna penghasilan makanan yang lebih rendah dari setiap unit keluasan tanah. Kehidupan laut juga terjejas apabila sinaran UV mendatangkan kemudaratan ke atas plankton tumbuhan dan binatang.
Pelepasan CFC juga menyebabkan pemanasan global (global warming) melalui dua cara; iaitu pertamanya sebagai gas rumah hijau yang menyerap haba. Suhu bumi akan meningkat yang mengakibatkan perubahan iklim. Keduanya, pemusnahan ozon menyebabkan lebih banyak sinaran matahari masuk dan memanaskan atmosfera rendah. Pemanasan global boleh menyebabkan kawasankawasan rendah dan juga negara-negara yang terletak di paras rendah ditenggelami air akibat peningkatan paras laut. Peningkatan sinaran UV di permukaan bumi juga mengakibatkan pencemaran udara menjadi lebih buruk. Interaksi pelepasan dari punca bergerak dan industri menyediakan keadaan yang kondusif bagi penghasilan ozon, di permukaan bumi yang akibat peningkatan paras laut.
Peningkatan sinaran UV di permukaan bumi juga mengakibatkan pencemaran udara menjadi lebih buruk. Interaksi pelepasan dari punca bergerak dan industry menyediakan keadaan yang kondusif bagi penghasilan ozon, di permukaan bumi yang mana menjadi bahan toksik kepada manusia dan tumbuhan. Sinaran UV juga menyebabkan kerosakan dan kepada polimer yang digunakan di dalam bangunan, cat, bahan pembungkusan (packaging) dan lain-lain.
2.3 Bahan Kimia dan Buangan Toksik
Salah satu ciri kehidupan moden ialah kebergantungan manusia kepada bahan kimia. Setiap tahun beribu-ribu bahan kimia baru dihasilkan untuk pelbagai kegunaan. Terdapat banyak peringkat bahan-bahan kimia masuk ke alam sekitar seperti:
(i) Ada bahan kimia yang memang cara penggunaannya memerlukan produk tersebut sepenuhnya dimasukkan ke alam sekitar seperti racun makhluk perosak dan baja.
(ii) Semasa penggunaannya, sebahagian bahan akan dilepaskan ke alam sekitar seperti penguapan bahan pelarut dari cat dan gam (adhesives).
(iii) Pelupusan sisa buangan hasil dari proses industri.
(iv) Pelepasan pelarut terpakai, cecair pencuci (cleaning fluid), lubricants yang mungkin mengandungi pencemar-pencemar lain.
(v) Pelupusan bahan kimia dari drum kosong.
(vi) Kebocoran dari tangki penstoran.
(vii) Tumpahan semasa kemalangan industri.
(viii) Tumpahan semasa kemalangan pengangkutan.
Akibat buruk daripada pengurusan buangan toksik di masa lampau yang tidak teratur masih menghantui masyarakat dunia. Penggunaan racun makhluk perosak DDT secara tidak terkawal telah dikenalpasti menyebabkan bahan ini terkumpul di dalam tisu lemak (fatty tissues) manusia dan juga dalam kehidupan lain yang tinggal jauh dari tempat penggunaan bahan tersebut. Perkara ini telah dibangkitkan untuk perhatian masyarakat dunia pertama kali pada 1962 oleh Rachel Carson dalam bukunya Silent Spring. Pelepasan effluen mengandungi methyl mercury oleh sebuah kilang kimia di Teluk Minamata, Jepun telah menyebabkan beratus-ratus kes lumpuh dan kelumpuhan deria (sensory loss). Inorganic mercury ini telah mengalami proses bioaccumulation di dalam hidupan laut (shellfish) yang menjadi sumber protin penduduk di sekitar teluk tersebut.
Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) juga, seperti DDT telah banyak digunakan di sekitar tahun 1960 - 1970 untuk pelbagai tujuan seperti transformer & coolant, plasticizer dan dalam pembuatan kertas tanpa karbon. Pendedahan kepada PCB dan polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs) boleh menyebabkan kaguguran dan kecacatan kelahiran. Namun begitu simbol pencemaran oleh bahan buangan toksik dan merbahaya ialah kes Love Canal, di Amerika Syarikat yang telah membuka mata di seluruh dunia. Buangan toksik telah dilupuskan dengan menanamnya di sebuah terusan yang tidak digunakan selama beberapa puluh tahun. Di atas tapak ini seterusnya dibangunkan sebuah sekolah dan di sekelilingnya juga dibina beratus-ratus rumah kediaman. Tidak berapa lama kemudian penduduk mula menghidu bau bahan kimia dan pelbagai penyakit yang berpunca daripada kimia dialami penduduk tersebut.
Akhirnya Kerajaan membeli kesemua rumah-rumah terlibat dan memindahkan penduduk ke tempat lain. Terdapat juga bahan yang disebut sebagai endocrine disruptors iaitu bahan kimia yang apabila diserap oleh tubuh boleh mengganggu fungsi hormon dan seterusnya boleh mengakibatkan pelbagai kesan dan penyakit seperti kesan ke atas sistem kelalian dan kanser. Endocrine disruptors yang telah dikenalpasti memberi kesan kepada manusia ialah dioksin, PCBs dan DDT. Banyak bahan kimia terutama racun makhluk perosak adalah suspected endocrine disruptors berdasarkan kajian yang terhad ke atas binatang.
2.4 Kepelbagaian Biologi (Biodiversity)
Kepelbagaian skala besar disebut kepelbagaian biologi (biodiversity) adalah penting untuk masa depan planet. Kepelbagaian biologi atau biod bermaksud kepelbagaian kehidupan di bumi ini dan kebergantungan mereka kepada satu yang lain. Perubahan atau kehilangan salah satu komponen boleh menyebabkan berlakunya impak yang tidak terjangka dan berbahaya kepada rantaian hidup yang dikenali sebagai ekosistem. Kehidupan manusia bergantung kepada biod melalui cara-cara yang tidak dihargai.
Kebanyakan sumber makanan manusia asalnya diambil dari sumber liar (wild resources) seperti bijirin dan perikanan laut. Kebergantungan kita kepada sumber kayu hutan masih jelas di seluruh dunia di mana sejumlah kecil sahaja dihasilkan dari hutan ladang. Empat daripada 150 ubat preskripsi teratas yang digunakan di Amerika Syarikat mempunyai asalnya daripada bahan semulajadi. Sebagai contoh aspirin pada mulanya diakstrak daripada kulit pokok willow. Eko-pelancongan juga mendapat manfaat dari interaksi kita dengan dunia semulajadi. Terdapat pelbagai bentuk perkhidmatan yang diberi oleh ekosistem (ecosystem services).
Salah satu contoh ialah pembersihan air yang berlaku apabila air larian mengalir melalui ekosistem berkaitan dan tanah lembab. Kewujudan tumbuhan juga berfungsi sebagai sinki yang efisyen bagi pencemarpencemar udara. Aliran air juga diregulasi oleh tumbuhantumbuhan yang terdapat di hulu limbangan yang dapat mengawal pemendapan dan banjir. Dalam jangkamasa yang panjang, kepelbagaian biologi memainkan peranan penting menyelenggara perkhidmatan ekosistem yang mengalami masa naik dan turunnya. Biologi dapat diumpamakan sebagai insurans kesihatan di mana ekosistem yang mempunyai pelbagai sepsis yang memberi fungsi yang sama mempunyai lebih daya tahan menghadapi tekanan alam sekitar dan pulih daripada ancaman dengan lebih cepat.
3. PANDANGAN ISLAM TERHADAP PENGURUSAN ALAM SEKITAR
Islam adalah agama yang membawa rahmat kepada manusia dan alam semesta. Ajaran Islam adalah syumul merangkumi segala aspek kehidupan manusia menjadikannya satu tatacara hidup (comprehensive code of life). Ia memadukan keperluan rohani dan jasmani, kepentingan duniawi dan ukhrawi. Setiap persoalan hidup diberi panduan dan saranan sama ada secara detil ataupun dalam bentuk kaedah-kaedah umum supaya tindaktanduk manusia dipimpin ke jalan yang akan memberi manfaat kepadanya dan alam semesta serta menjauhi kemusnahan dan kemudharatan. Kesyumulan Islam juga terserlah dengan ajaran-ajarannya yang bukan sahaja mengatur tatacara hubungan manusia dengan khaliqnya tetapi juga hubungan di antara manusia sesama manusia dan makhluk Tuhan yang lain. Islam adalah agama akidah dan syariah. Tujuan utama akidah ialah memurnikan perhubungan manusia dengan Tuhannya. Di antara tujuan syariat pula ialah menjaga keturunan, harta dan nyawa manusia. Pemusnahan dan pencemaran alam sekitar telah terbukti mengancam ketigatiga perkara tersebut di atas.
3.1 Pandangan Islam Terhadap Alam Semesta
Alam sekitar yang mengkagumkan yang mengelilingi kita; hutan dan tumbuhan yang hijau serta pelbagai warna yang meliputi sebahagian besar dunia; gunung-ganang yang perkasa yang
terpacak sebagai pasak menunjang ke bumi; lautan yang penuh misteri yang tidak henti-hentinya memukul ombak ke pantai, tidak dijadikan dengan sia-sia tanpa tujuan. Bukan saja setiap kejadian Allah S.W.T. mempunyai peranan masing-masing dalam hubungan intim yang disebut ekosistem, malah ianya memenuhi tujuan berikut:
(a) sebagai ayatullah, atau tanda-tanda kebesaran Alllah S.W.T.,
(b) sebagai buku ilmu, yang sentiasa bersedia untuk dikaji dan digali rahsia khazanah ilmu Allah S.W.T. yang tidak habishabisnya,
(c) sebagai hadiah daripada Allah S.W.T. kepada makhluknya untuk dimanfaatkan untuk kesenangan hidup di dunia ini. Allah S.W.T. telah menciptakan makhluk di alam semesta ini dengan penuh keseimbangan (mizan) sama ada dari segi kuantiti dan kualitinya.
Allah S.W.T. berfirman:
Sesungguhnya Kami menjadikan tiap-tiap sesuatu dengan Kadar
(Al-Qamar 54 : 49)
Tiap-tiap sesuatu di sisiNya mempunyai kadar
(Ar-Rad 13 : 8)
Kami tumuhkan tiap sesuatu dengan ukuran
(Al-Hijr 15 : 19)
Kepelbagaian bentuk dan fungsi makhluk ciptaan Allah S.W.T. ini sama ada yang bernyawa atau tidak saling lengkapmelengkapi membolekan alam semesta ini memainkan fungsi yang telah ditetapkan kepadanya dengan penuh tertib sesuai dengan kehendak Penciptanya. Allah S.W.T. juga telah menciptakan segala-galanya dengan penuh bijaksana dan dengan tujuan yang tertentu; bukan dengan sia-sia. Semua makhluk ciptaan Tuhan telah ditetapkan fungsi masing-masing dan simbiosis di antara yang bernyawa dan yang tidak bernyawa melahirkan manfaat dan kebaikan kepada semua.
Allah S.W.T. berfirman:
Bukanlah Kami jadikan langit, bumi dan apa-apa yang di antara keduanya dengan bermain-main. Tiadalah kami jadikan keduanya melainkan dengan kebenaran..
(Ad-Dukhan 44 : 38-39)
3.2 Konsep Islam tentang pembangunan
Pendekatan Islam terhadap usaha membangun dan memanfaatkan sumber-sumber asli dapat disimpulkan dari nasihat Sayyidina Ali bin Abi Talib, Khalifah keempat kepada seorang pengusaha yang telah membangunkan tanah terbiar: Usahakanlah dengan rasa gembira, asalkan engkau seorang yang membawa kepada kebaikan bukan kejahatan; yang berniat untuk membangunkan ladang bukan untuk mendatangkan kemusnahan (Athar diriwayatkan oleh Yahya ibnu Adam dalam kitab al-Kharaj)
Salah satu manifestasi ketidaksyukuran manusia kepada Allah S.W.T. ialah pembaziran dan pemborosan yang telah mengakibatkan pemusnahan sumber dan penghasilan bahan buangan yang bertambah-tambah kuantitinya setiap tahun. Hutan tropika yang penuh dengan khazanah yang tidak ternilai diterokai dan dimusnahkan dengan rakusnya melalui eksploitasi yang tidak berteraskan pengurusan lestari. Habitat untuk hidupan liar juga dimusnahkan bahkan hidupan itu sendiri dibunuh dengan kejam di mana sebahagian daripada badannya akan dijadikan hiasan. Inilah sifat syaitan yang sentiasa tidak bersyukur kepada Tuhannya.
Allah S.W.T. berfirman:
Sesungguhnya orang-orang yang membazir itu adalah saudara syaitan dan syaitan itu amat engkar akan Tuhannya.
( Al-Israk 17 : 27)
Islam memahami dan memberi perhatian tentang dualisma sifat manusia: sifat fizikalnya (jasmani) dan sifat kejiwaannya (rohani). Prinsip pembangunan dalam Islam mengambilkira dualisme ini untuk mempastikan matlamat terakhir pembangunan fizikal ialah untuk menghasilkan ketenangan jiwa. Allah S.W.T. telah menjadikan bumi ini dan seluruh isinya untuk manfaat manusia dan manusia juga telah diperintahkan oleh Allah S.W.T. untuk membangunkan bumi ini.
Allah S.W.T. berfirman:
Dia yang menciptakan untukmu apa-apa yang di bumi semuanya
(Al-Baqarah 2 : 29)
Dia menjadikan kamu daripada bumi serta memakmurkanmu didalamnya
Penulis turut mengenengahkan keperluan manusia memelihara alam sekitar dari perspektif agama. Perbincangan berkisar tentang pandangan Islam terhadap alam semesta; konsep Islam tentang pembangunan; konsep manusia sebagai khalifah; akauntabiliti terhadap Allah S.W.T. dan sesame manusia; serta konsep pemuliharaan alam sekitar sebagai satu ibadah. Secara umumnya setiap orang adalah bertanggungjawab ke atas semua tindak tanduknya termasuklah dalam aspek pemuliharaan alam sekitar dan ia akan dihisab di atas apa yang telah dipertanggungjawabkan ke atasnya.
Salah satu cabaran paling getir yang dihadapi manusia sekarang ialah menguruskan alam sekitar secara bijak. Natijah daripada pengurusan yang tidak bijak ialah tercetusnya krisis alam sekitar yang mengancam kehidupan manusia itu sendiri di atas planet ini. Tidak pernah terjadi ancaman itu sebegini meluas jangkauannya dan berpanjangan kesannya seperti ancaman yang dihadapi pada masa kini. Wawasan 2020 yang diilhamkan oleh bekas Perdana Menteri Malaysia, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamed juga mengenalpasti cabaran terhadap alam sekitar sebagai salah satu cabaran yang perlu ditangani oleh Malaysia dalam perjalanannya ke destinasi menjadi negara maju pada 2020.
Kalaulah alam sekitar itu penting untuk kelestarian pembangunan negara dan kelangsungan kehidupan manusia di planet ini, kenapakah kita masih acuh tak acuh memelihara dan memuliharanya?. Kenapakah amaran daripada pakar-pakar tidak diindah oleh kita semua?. Dalam kemelut yang bermacam ragam yang dihadapi dunia sekarang, ramai sarjana barat dan timur menganjurkan manusia kembali semula kepada agama untuk mendapat petunjuk untuk mengatasi kemelut ini. Apakah ada apa-apa peranan dapat dimainkan oleh agama dalam hal ini dan adakh agama dapat mengemukakan pedoman dan tuntunan yang boleh menyuluhi kegelapan yang dihadapi oleh manusia? Kertas ini akan cuba mengupas soalan penting ini.
2. KRISIS ALAM SEKITAR - SEPINTAS LALU
2.1 Pencemaran
Pencemaran udara termasuk carbon monoksida, ozon, sulfur dioksida, oksida-oksida nitrogen dan partikulat. Pencemarpencemar ini secara asasnya terhasil daripada pembakaran bahan api fossil, terutamanya oleh loji janakuasa yang menggunakan arangbatu dan kenderaan yang menggunakan petrol. Oksida-oksida nitrogen boleh menyebabkan terbentuknya ozon di paras bumi (ground level ozone). Partikulat pula dihasilkan dari pelbagai punca termasuk kenderaan disel. Udara di bandar - bandar biasanya mengandungi campuran pelbagai pencemar yang disebut di atas dan boleh mendatangkan pelbagai kesan negatif kepada manusia.
Pendedahan kepada karbon monoksida melambatkan tindakbalas dan menyebabkan rasa mengantuk dan nitrogen dioksida boleh memburukkan lagi penyakit lelah (asthma) dan mengurangkan fungsi paru-paru (lung function). Ozon juga menyebabkan inflamasi paru-paru (lung inflammation) dan mengurangkan fungsi paru-paru dan keupayaan bergerak (exercise capacity). Organisasi Kesihatan Dunia (World Health Organization) melaporkan bahawa tiga (3) juta orang mati setiap tahun disebabkan pencemaran udara. Ini adalah tiga (3) kali lebih tinggi daripada jumlah kematian yang disebabkan kemalangan kenderaan. Pencemaran air pula disebabkan oleh pelbagai aktiviti manusia termasuk pelepasan dari industri yang mengandungi pelbagai jenis pencemar termasuk bahan organik, bahan kimia dan juga pencemar fizikal.
Di antara pencemar ini yang berbahaya ialah logam-logam berat dan pelbagai non-biodegradable compounds yang sebahagiannya mempunyai kesan ketara ke atas kesihatan manusia di dalam jangkamasa panjang. Dunia telah menyaksikan dan sejarah telah merakamkan episod malapetaka alam sekitar di merata dunia. Malaysia juga tidak terlepas daripada berkongsi pengalaman mengalami kemerosotan kualiti alam sekitar, walaupun dalam skala yang lebih rendah. Laporan Kualiti Alam Sekeliling 2003 melaporkan kualiti udara di bandarbandar besar dan beberapa lokasi di Malaysia telah dicemari oleh pelepasan dari kenderaan dan juga industri. 51% daripada sungaisungai di Malaysia juga mengalami pencemaran dan dikategorikan sebagai tercemar dan sedikit tercemar, terutamanya disebabkan oleh pelepasan kumbahan, effluen industri dan aktiviti pembangunan tanah.
2.2 Penipisan Lapisan Ozon
Allah S.W.T. telah menyediakan lapisan gas (yang dikenali sebagai lapisan ozon) di ketinggian lebih kurang 20 - 40 km dari paras bumi berfungsi sebagai penghalang kepada sinaran ultra ungu (UV) daripada sampai ke permukaan bumi. UV adalah sinaran berkuasa tinggi yang merbahaya kepada manusia dan ekosistem. Namun begitu lapisan ozon ini telah mengalami kemusnahan dan menjadi nipis disebabkan oleh penggunaan bahan chlorofluoro carbon (CFC). Fenomena penipisan lapisan ozon ini dikenali umum sebagai fenomena Ôlubang ozonÕ (ozone hole).
CFC adalah kimia buatan manusia yang mempunyai pelbagai kegunaan oleh industri dan komersial. Penipisan lapisan ozon memberi implikasi ketara ke atas tumbuh-tumbuhan dan bendabenda bernyawa. Sinaran UV-B boleh menyebabkan penyakit mata (cataract, snow blindness), kanser kulit, mempengaruhi sistem kelalian (immune system) dan kemusnahan bahan genetic DNA. Walaupun kesan ke atas tumbuhan dan binatang kurang difahami daripada kesannya ke atas manusia, kajian menunjukkan tumbuhan mengalami kesan negatif daripada snaran UV. Hasil tanaman akan berkurangan dan ini bermakna penghasilan makanan yang lebih rendah dari setiap unit keluasan tanah. Kehidupan laut juga terjejas apabila sinaran UV mendatangkan kemudaratan ke atas plankton tumbuhan dan binatang.
Pelepasan CFC juga menyebabkan pemanasan global (global warming) melalui dua cara; iaitu pertamanya sebagai gas rumah hijau yang menyerap haba. Suhu bumi akan meningkat yang mengakibatkan perubahan iklim. Keduanya, pemusnahan ozon menyebabkan lebih banyak sinaran matahari masuk dan memanaskan atmosfera rendah. Pemanasan global boleh menyebabkan kawasankawasan rendah dan juga negara-negara yang terletak di paras rendah ditenggelami air akibat peningkatan paras laut. Peningkatan sinaran UV di permukaan bumi juga mengakibatkan pencemaran udara menjadi lebih buruk. Interaksi pelepasan dari punca bergerak dan industri menyediakan keadaan yang kondusif bagi penghasilan ozon, di permukaan bumi yang akibat peningkatan paras laut.
Peningkatan sinaran UV di permukaan bumi juga mengakibatkan pencemaran udara menjadi lebih buruk. Interaksi pelepasan dari punca bergerak dan industry menyediakan keadaan yang kondusif bagi penghasilan ozon, di permukaan bumi yang mana menjadi bahan toksik kepada manusia dan tumbuhan. Sinaran UV juga menyebabkan kerosakan dan kepada polimer yang digunakan di dalam bangunan, cat, bahan pembungkusan (packaging) dan lain-lain.
2.3 Bahan Kimia dan Buangan Toksik
Salah satu ciri kehidupan moden ialah kebergantungan manusia kepada bahan kimia. Setiap tahun beribu-ribu bahan kimia baru dihasilkan untuk pelbagai kegunaan. Terdapat banyak peringkat bahan-bahan kimia masuk ke alam sekitar seperti:
(i) Ada bahan kimia yang memang cara penggunaannya memerlukan produk tersebut sepenuhnya dimasukkan ke alam sekitar seperti racun makhluk perosak dan baja.
(ii) Semasa penggunaannya, sebahagian bahan akan dilepaskan ke alam sekitar seperti penguapan bahan pelarut dari cat dan gam (adhesives).
(iii) Pelupusan sisa buangan hasil dari proses industri.
(iv) Pelepasan pelarut terpakai, cecair pencuci (cleaning fluid), lubricants yang mungkin mengandungi pencemar-pencemar lain.
(v) Pelupusan bahan kimia dari drum kosong.
(vi) Kebocoran dari tangki penstoran.
(vii) Tumpahan semasa kemalangan industri.
(viii) Tumpahan semasa kemalangan pengangkutan.
Akibat buruk daripada pengurusan buangan toksik di masa lampau yang tidak teratur masih menghantui masyarakat dunia. Penggunaan racun makhluk perosak DDT secara tidak terkawal telah dikenalpasti menyebabkan bahan ini terkumpul di dalam tisu lemak (fatty tissues) manusia dan juga dalam kehidupan lain yang tinggal jauh dari tempat penggunaan bahan tersebut. Perkara ini telah dibangkitkan untuk perhatian masyarakat dunia pertama kali pada 1962 oleh Rachel Carson dalam bukunya Silent Spring. Pelepasan effluen mengandungi methyl mercury oleh sebuah kilang kimia di Teluk Minamata, Jepun telah menyebabkan beratus-ratus kes lumpuh dan kelumpuhan deria (sensory loss). Inorganic mercury ini telah mengalami proses bioaccumulation di dalam hidupan laut (shellfish) yang menjadi sumber protin penduduk di sekitar teluk tersebut.
Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) juga, seperti DDT telah banyak digunakan di sekitar tahun 1960 - 1970 untuk pelbagai tujuan seperti transformer & coolant, plasticizer dan dalam pembuatan kertas tanpa karbon. Pendedahan kepada PCB dan polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs) boleh menyebabkan kaguguran dan kecacatan kelahiran. Namun begitu simbol pencemaran oleh bahan buangan toksik dan merbahaya ialah kes Love Canal, di Amerika Syarikat yang telah membuka mata di seluruh dunia. Buangan toksik telah dilupuskan dengan menanamnya di sebuah terusan yang tidak digunakan selama beberapa puluh tahun. Di atas tapak ini seterusnya dibangunkan sebuah sekolah dan di sekelilingnya juga dibina beratus-ratus rumah kediaman. Tidak berapa lama kemudian penduduk mula menghidu bau bahan kimia dan pelbagai penyakit yang berpunca daripada kimia dialami penduduk tersebut.
Akhirnya Kerajaan membeli kesemua rumah-rumah terlibat dan memindahkan penduduk ke tempat lain. Terdapat juga bahan yang disebut sebagai endocrine disruptors iaitu bahan kimia yang apabila diserap oleh tubuh boleh mengganggu fungsi hormon dan seterusnya boleh mengakibatkan pelbagai kesan dan penyakit seperti kesan ke atas sistem kelalian dan kanser. Endocrine disruptors yang telah dikenalpasti memberi kesan kepada manusia ialah dioksin, PCBs dan DDT. Banyak bahan kimia terutama racun makhluk perosak adalah suspected endocrine disruptors berdasarkan kajian yang terhad ke atas binatang.
2.4 Kepelbagaian Biologi (Biodiversity)
Kepelbagaian skala besar disebut kepelbagaian biologi (biodiversity) adalah penting untuk masa depan planet. Kepelbagaian biologi atau biod bermaksud kepelbagaian kehidupan di bumi ini dan kebergantungan mereka kepada satu yang lain. Perubahan atau kehilangan salah satu komponen boleh menyebabkan berlakunya impak yang tidak terjangka dan berbahaya kepada rantaian hidup yang dikenali sebagai ekosistem. Kehidupan manusia bergantung kepada biod melalui cara-cara yang tidak dihargai.
Kebanyakan sumber makanan manusia asalnya diambil dari sumber liar (wild resources) seperti bijirin dan perikanan laut. Kebergantungan kita kepada sumber kayu hutan masih jelas di seluruh dunia di mana sejumlah kecil sahaja dihasilkan dari hutan ladang. Empat daripada 150 ubat preskripsi teratas yang digunakan di Amerika Syarikat mempunyai asalnya daripada bahan semulajadi. Sebagai contoh aspirin pada mulanya diakstrak daripada kulit pokok willow. Eko-pelancongan juga mendapat manfaat dari interaksi kita dengan dunia semulajadi. Terdapat pelbagai bentuk perkhidmatan yang diberi oleh ekosistem (ecosystem services).
Salah satu contoh ialah pembersihan air yang berlaku apabila air larian mengalir melalui ekosistem berkaitan dan tanah lembab. Kewujudan tumbuhan juga berfungsi sebagai sinki yang efisyen bagi pencemarpencemar udara. Aliran air juga diregulasi oleh tumbuhantumbuhan yang terdapat di hulu limbangan yang dapat mengawal pemendapan dan banjir. Dalam jangkamasa yang panjang, kepelbagaian biologi memainkan peranan penting menyelenggara perkhidmatan ekosistem yang mengalami masa naik dan turunnya. Biologi dapat diumpamakan sebagai insurans kesihatan di mana ekosistem yang mempunyai pelbagai sepsis yang memberi fungsi yang sama mempunyai lebih daya tahan menghadapi tekanan alam sekitar dan pulih daripada ancaman dengan lebih cepat.
3. PANDANGAN ISLAM TERHADAP PENGURUSAN ALAM SEKITAR
Islam adalah agama yang membawa rahmat kepada manusia dan alam semesta. Ajaran Islam adalah syumul merangkumi segala aspek kehidupan manusia menjadikannya satu tatacara hidup (comprehensive code of life). Ia memadukan keperluan rohani dan jasmani, kepentingan duniawi dan ukhrawi. Setiap persoalan hidup diberi panduan dan saranan sama ada secara detil ataupun dalam bentuk kaedah-kaedah umum supaya tindaktanduk manusia dipimpin ke jalan yang akan memberi manfaat kepadanya dan alam semesta serta menjauhi kemusnahan dan kemudharatan. Kesyumulan Islam juga terserlah dengan ajaran-ajarannya yang bukan sahaja mengatur tatacara hubungan manusia dengan khaliqnya tetapi juga hubungan di antara manusia sesama manusia dan makhluk Tuhan yang lain. Islam adalah agama akidah dan syariah. Tujuan utama akidah ialah memurnikan perhubungan manusia dengan Tuhannya. Di antara tujuan syariat pula ialah menjaga keturunan, harta dan nyawa manusia. Pemusnahan dan pencemaran alam sekitar telah terbukti mengancam ketigatiga perkara tersebut di atas.
3.1 Pandangan Islam Terhadap Alam Semesta
Alam sekitar yang mengkagumkan yang mengelilingi kita; hutan dan tumbuhan yang hijau serta pelbagai warna yang meliputi sebahagian besar dunia; gunung-ganang yang perkasa yang
terpacak sebagai pasak menunjang ke bumi; lautan yang penuh misteri yang tidak henti-hentinya memukul ombak ke pantai, tidak dijadikan dengan sia-sia tanpa tujuan. Bukan saja setiap kejadian Allah S.W.T. mempunyai peranan masing-masing dalam hubungan intim yang disebut ekosistem, malah ianya memenuhi tujuan berikut:
(a) sebagai ayatullah, atau tanda-tanda kebesaran Alllah S.W.T.,
(b) sebagai buku ilmu, yang sentiasa bersedia untuk dikaji dan digali rahsia khazanah ilmu Allah S.W.T. yang tidak habishabisnya,
(c) sebagai hadiah daripada Allah S.W.T. kepada makhluknya untuk dimanfaatkan untuk kesenangan hidup di dunia ini. Allah S.W.T. telah menciptakan makhluk di alam semesta ini dengan penuh keseimbangan (mizan) sama ada dari segi kuantiti dan kualitinya.
Allah S.W.T. berfirman:
Sesungguhnya Kami menjadikan tiap-tiap sesuatu dengan Kadar
(Al-Qamar 54 : 49)
Tiap-tiap sesuatu di sisiNya mempunyai kadar
(Ar-Rad 13 : 8)
Kami tumuhkan tiap sesuatu dengan ukuran
(Al-Hijr 15 : 19)
Kepelbagaian bentuk dan fungsi makhluk ciptaan Allah S.W.T. ini sama ada yang bernyawa atau tidak saling lengkapmelengkapi membolekan alam semesta ini memainkan fungsi yang telah ditetapkan kepadanya dengan penuh tertib sesuai dengan kehendak Penciptanya. Allah S.W.T. juga telah menciptakan segala-galanya dengan penuh bijaksana dan dengan tujuan yang tertentu; bukan dengan sia-sia. Semua makhluk ciptaan Tuhan telah ditetapkan fungsi masing-masing dan simbiosis di antara yang bernyawa dan yang tidak bernyawa melahirkan manfaat dan kebaikan kepada semua.
Allah S.W.T. berfirman:
Bukanlah Kami jadikan langit, bumi dan apa-apa yang di antara keduanya dengan bermain-main. Tiadalah kami jadikan keduanya melainkan dengan kebenaran..
(Ad-Dukhan 44 : 38-39)
3.2 Konsep Islam tentang pembangunan
Pendekatan Islam terhadap usaha membangun dan memanfaatkan sumber-sumber asli dapat disimpulkan dari nasihat Sayyidina Ali bin Abi Talib, Khalifah keempat kepada seorang pengusaha yang telah membangunkan tanah terbiar: Usahakanlah dengan rasa gembira, asalkan engkau seorang yang membawa kepada kebaikan bukan kejahatan; yang berniat untuk membangunkan ladang bukan untuk mendatangkan kemusnahan (Athar diriwayatkan oleh Yahya ibnu Adam dalam kitab al-Kharaj)
Salah satu manifestasi ketidaksyukuran manusia kepada Allah S.W.T. ialah pembaziran dan pemborosan yang telah mengakibatkan pemusnahan sumber dan penghasilan bahan buangan yang bertambah-tambah kuantitinya setiap tahun. Hutan tropika yang penuh dengan khazanah yang tidak ternilai diterokai dan dimusnahkan dengan rakusnya melalui eksploitasi yang tidak berteraskan pengurusan lestari. Habitat untuk hidupan liar juga dimusnahkan bahkan hidupan itu sendiri dibunuh dengan kejam di mana sebahagian daripada badannya akan dijadikan hiasan. Inilah sifat syaitan yang sentiasa tidak bersyukur kepada Tuhannya.
Allah S.W.T. berfirman:
Sesungguhnya orang-orang yang membazir itu adalah saudara syaitan dan syaitan itu amat engkar akan Tuhannya.
( Al-Israk 17 : 27)
Islam memahami dan memberi perhatian tentang dualisma sifat manusia: sifat fizikalnya (jasmani) dan sifat kejiwaannya (rohani). Prinsip pembangunan dalam Islam mengambilkira dualisme ini untuk mempastikan matlamat terakhir pembangunan fizikal ialah untuk menghasilkan ketenangan jiwa. Allah S.W.T. telah menjadikan bumi ini dan seluruh isinya untuk manfaat manusia dan manusia juga telah diperintahkan oleh Allah S.W.T. untuk membangunkan bumi ini.
Allah S.W.T. berfirman:
Dia yang menciptakan untukmu apa-apa yang di bumi semuanya
(Al-Baqarah 2 : 29)
Dia menjadikan kamu daripada bumi serta memakmurkanmu didalamnya
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