Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. Space Industry and Business News .




FARM NEWS
Green grabs: The dark side of the green economy
by Staff Writers
London, UK (SPX) Jun 21, 2012


If sustainable development is genuinely to be pursued at Rio+20 and beyond, we need to recapture nature from the market's grasp, nurturing and legitimising more interconnected human-ecological relationships and understandings, along with tried-and-tested forms of local ecosystem stewardship based on them.

'Green grabbing' - the rapidly-growing appropriation of land and resources in the name of 'green ' biofuels, carbon offsetting schemes, conservation efforts and eco-tourism initiatives - is forcing people from their homelands and increasing poverty, new research has found.

Ecosystems being 'asset-stripped' for profit is likely to cause dispossession and further poverty amongst already-poor land and resource users, according to a set of 17 new research case studies from Africa, Asia and Latin America, published in a special issue of the Journal of Peasant Studies.

"Green grabs are the dark side of the green economy," said Professor Melissa Leach, director of the ESRC STEPS Centre. "If market-based mechanisms are to contribute to sustainable development and the building of economies that are not only green but also fair, then fostering an agenda focused on distribution, equity and justice in green market arrangements is vital."

This means including meaningful local engagement and consultation based on transparency, accountability and free, prior informed consent. Yet green markets cannot do it all. In the rush to repair a damaged nature through trading and offset schemes, the political-economic structures that caused the damage in the first place must not be neglected.

Responsibility for tackling unsustainable practices in wealthy industrialised settings should not be offloaded by financialising ecosystems in other parts of the world.

And if sustainable development is genuinely to be pursued at Rio+20 and beyond, we need to recapture nature from the market's grasp, nurturing and legitimising more interconnected human-ecological relationships and understandings, along with tried-and-tested forms of local ecosystem stewardship based on them.

Examples of green grabs include: in Guatemala, conservation agencies, ecotourism companies and the military are 'protecting' the Guatemalan Maya Biosphere Reserve as a 'Maya-themed vacationland', violently excluding local people.

In Eastern and Southern Africa, businesses are revaluing soil systems and farming practices for 'biochar', dispossessing farmers and pastoralists from land and resources important for their livelihoods.

Meanwhile evidence is mounting that some Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD and REDD+) schemes are dispossessing local forest users of vital resource access.

.


Related Links
Institute of Development Studies
Farming Today - Suppliers and Technology






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








FARM NEWS
Grasshoppers 'stressed' by spiders affect the productivity of our soil
Jerusalem (SPX) Jun 20, 2012
How do grasshoppers who are being frightened by spiders affect our ecosystem? In no small measure, say researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and at Yale University in the US. A grasshopper who is in fear of an attacker, such as a spider, will enter a situation of stress and will consume a greater quantity of carbohydrate-rich plants - similar to humans under stress who might eat more ... read more


FARM NEWS
Samsung launches new phone in US, taking on Apple

China defends rare earths policy

Apple fined $2.29 mln over Australian '4G' iPad

Space is Big, But Getting Smaller

FARM NEWS
Boeing FAB-T Demonstrates Communications with On-orbit AEHF Satellite

Lockheed Martin Completes Environmental Testing on Second US Navy Satellite

Raytheon receives contract to link Navy Multiband Terminal to USAF's Polar Satellite

Raytheon receives $79 million award for US Navy Multiband Terminal systems

FARM NEWS
A milestone in launcher preparations for Arianespace's fourth Ariane 5 flight of 2012

US military launches new satellite into space

NASA Administrator Bolden Views Historic SpaceX Dragon Capsule

NASA's NuSTAR Mission Lifts Off

FARM NEWS
Trial by vacuum brings next Galileo satellites closer to launch

Boeing Completes Fifth GPS IIF Satellite for USAF

GPS being used as weather forecast tool

Apple fends off Android challenge with maps, Siri

FARM NEWS
Boeing Named Associate Partner to SELEX Sistemi Integrati in Single European Sky ATM Research Development Phase

Jetstar Japan chief says no threat to JAL's revival

Embraer ups components output in Portugal

Norway orders first two F-35 fighters as part of $10bn deal

FARM NEWS
Renesas shareholders approve $630 mn in aid

Quantum bar magnets in a transparent salt

Researchers 'heal' plasma-damaged semiconductor with treatment of hydrogen radicals

Relocating LEDs from silicon to copper enhances efficiency

FARM NEWS
Satellites show less pollution from deforestation

Soil Moisture Climate Data Record observed from Space

Anniversary in space - five years of TerraSAR-X

Embedded Educators: Teacher Research Experience in Greenland with Operation IceBridge

FARM NEWS
New Software Forecasts Noise Levels in a Street

Red Cross sounds alarm about weapon contamination

UN environment summit opens, but prospects grim

Rights group slams 'lawless' Indian mining industry




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement