Many times people from other cultures view the wilderness differently than current environmentalists do.  They are used to taking from nature the things which they need to go about their daily lives.  To demand that they stop doing so without providing alternatives for them is unrealistic and selfish on our part.

Take, for instance, the people of Vietnam.  They cut about 500,000 acres of forest annually to achieve their goals and meet their needs for existence.  The government has set aside many natural areas for protection.  Yet, without the assistance of its citizens, the Vietnamese government will not be able to make these protected areas a reality.

In the past villagers have relied on hunting, logging, and agriculture in the forest for their livelihoods.  The villagers are currently allowed to use the forests for medicinal plants and non-wood products.  Vo Quy, a premier environmentalist in this country, is helping to focus the villagers’ attention on alternative practices for employment.  One method is to establish nurseries of fruit trees which will grow well in the area.  The seedling trees are provided to the villagers for use in their home gardens and in the nearby forest.  Other crops are being promoted as well to provide the locals a further means of existence.  Beekeeping is being taught so that villagers can have a supply of honey and also have a means of pollinating their fruit trees (Graham 48).

By working with its citizens and giving them alternatives, Vietnam is making great advances in its environmental efforts.  It takes this kind of understanding of human needs to obtain involvement from all the parties necessary to make environmental preservation a success.  See the page on Vo Quy under Role Models for more details.

People in developed countries like the United States also do not feel the enormous pressure that many undeveloped countries do to make profit from their wildnerness areas.  Living conditions are often drastically worse for these people, and money made from any source is a vital commodity for them.  Poverty is a fact of life in many areas of the world.

Recently many ecotourism projects have been initiated.  These are often a result of a myriad of people coming together to achieve a common goal.  One such effort is Programme for Belize, in which I participated this summer.  The main goal of the program is to educate their own citizens about ways in which they can sustainably use their natural resources.  The citizens are allowed to use portions of protected areas for various endeavors, with the intent being to discover which endeavors can be continued without causing damage to the environment.  The land is also used by many scientists to conduct research in the rainforest.

Another aspect of the program is to teach others about the natural resources of Belize and set an example for them to follow.  Universities (mostly from the United States) take classes to the area for instruction in ecology and marine biology.  I learned a great deal during my trip, and I would highly recommend such an excursion to anyone interested in the environment.  The program does an excellent job of promoting environmentally-friendly practices and uses these methods in their own establishments.  The tourists who visit also provide additional income for the local inhabitants, offering them another alternative to destroying the forest to achieve their livelihood.

For further information on this program, please visit their website at http://www.belizenet.com/pfbel.html.