UNIT CODE: BEM 4101

UNIT TITLE: INTRODUCTION TO ENVIROMENTAL EDUCATION

BEM 4101: ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION

Purpose

To make students aware of the need for conserving and managing the environment.

Course objective

By the end of the course unit the learners should be able to:

i. Discuss the significance of the environment as it relates to the society

ii. Discuss the various ways of managing and conserving the environment
iii. Describe the various ways of utilizing environmental resources
iv. Familiarize themselves with the legal and ethical issues on the environment

Course outline

Topic/sub-topic Hours
Management of the environment 3
Planning for the available resources in the environment
Utilization of the environment
Methods of conserving the environment 3
Awareness of the community with regard to 3
environment and legal issues in environment
The role of education in management and conservation 2
of environment
Population and Environment 3
Awareness of the environment 2
Conservation in Kenya and world effort 3
Environment and Sustainable development 2
Human settlement and environment contribution of the 3
social, economic and political aspects of the society
.
TOPIC ONE

ENVIRONMENT

INTRODUCTION

Humans have always inhabited two worlds. One of the natural worlds of plants, animals, soil, air
and water that precede us by billions of years and of which we are a apart. The other is the world
of social institutions and artifacts that create for ourselves using science and technology and
political organization. Both worlds are essential to our lives, but integrating them successfully
causes endure tension.

Where earlier people had limited ability to alter their surroundings, we now have power to
extract and consume resources, produce waste and modify our worlds in ways that threaten both
our continued existence and that of many organisms with which we share the planet. To ensure a
sustainable future for ourselves and future generations, we need to understand something about
how our world works, what we are doing to it and what we can do to protect and improve it.

Environment has been defined as the sum total of all conditions & influences that affect the
development & life of organisms. Or the complex of social or cultural conditions that affect an
individual or community. All external conditions and factors, living and non-living (chemicals
and energy) that affect an organism or other specified system during its lifetime. Environment is
a very broad concept. For example we human beings are likely to interact with millions of other
organisms, drink a large number of liters of water, breath huge quantities of air and respond to
daily changes in temperature and humidity during our lifetime. This list only begins to describe
various components that make up the environment of an organism.

World educators & environmental specialists have repeatedly point out that any solution to the
environmental crises will require environmental awareness & understanding to be deeply rooted
in the educational system. Environmental education provides the foundation for a new order
which will certainly conserve & improve the environment. The 1980 World Conservation
Strategy, prepared by the international union for the conservation of nature along with UN
Environment Program and the World Wildlife Fund, promoted the idea of environmental
protection in the self interest of the human species.
Information sharing and awareness raising, as well as environmental education, have been
identified as key areas in working towards sustainable development, notably by Agenda 21.
Indeed, education, access to information and awareness raising help to promote public
participation in decision making, ultimately determining the direction of development and the
state of the environment

Definitions

Environment is everything that affects an organism during its lifetime.All external conditions
and factors, living and non-living (chemicals and energy) that affect an organism or other
specified system during its lifetime. Environment is a very broad concept. For example we
human beings are likely to interact with millions of other organisms, drink a large number of
liters of water, breath huge quantities of air and respond to daily changes in temperature and
humidity during our lifetime. This list only begins to describe various components that make up
the environment of an organism.

An organism is any form of life. Organisms can be classified into species, or groups of
organisms that resemble one another in appearance, behaviour, chemistry, and genetic
endowment. Organisms that reproduce sexually are classified in the same species if, under
natural conditions, they can actually or potentially breed with one another and produce live,
fertile offspring.

A population consists of a group of interacting individuals of the same species that occupy a
specific area at the same time. Examples are all sunfish in a pond and all people in a country.
Populations are dynamic groups that change in size, age, distribution, density and genetic
composition as a result in changes in environmental conditions.

The place where a population or an individual organism lives is its habitat. Populations of all the
different species occupying a particular place make up a community. The niche of an organism is
the functional role it has in its surroundings. A niche is everything that affects and everything
that is affected by an organism during its lifetime.

An ecosystem is a community of different species interacting with one another and with their
nonliving environment of matter and energy. An ecosystem may be small, such as a particular
stream or field or a patch of woods, deserts, or marsh. Or the units may be large, generalized
types of terrestrial ecosystems such as a particular types of grassland, forest, or desert.

Environment Management

EVOLUTION OF THE CONCEPT

Since prehistoric times, the human race has gathered environmental experience and has created
strategies for making the best possible use of nature. To facilitate management of resource
utilization, people developed taboos, superstitions and common rights, devised laws to improve
conservation and even engaged in national resource inventories (such as the twelfth century AD
Doomsday survey). While a few managed to maintain practical lifestyles for long durations, the
thought that pre-modern people 'close to nature' brought about slight environmental harm is
mostly an Arcadian myth. In fact, with population's a fraction of today's, people in the prehistoric
era, using fire and weapons of flint, bone, wood and leather, managed to change the vegetation of
a majority of continents and most likely eradicated numerous species of large mammals (Tudge,
1995). Developments observed in the late twentieth century make it imperative that
environmental management should be accurately comprehended. Such developments include,
but are not limited to, global pollution, loss of biodiversity, soil degradation and urban sprawl.
The challenges are enormous; however, there has been progress in perceiving the composition
and function of the environment, in examining impacts, data handling and analysis, modeling,
evaluation and planning. It is the responsibility of environmental management to organize and
concentrate on such advancements, to augment human welfare and diminish or curb further
destruction of Earth and its organisms.

Technological optimism evident in the west, chiefly from the 1830s onwards and articulated in
natural resources management, weakened somewhat after 1945 since environmental issues
became a prime concern in people's consciousness (Mitchell, 1997). Some degree of efforts were
put in to ascertain that natural resources utilization was incorporated in social as well as
economic progress before the 1970s, e.g. integrated or comprehensive regional planning and
management was put into practice as early as the 1930s with the institution of river basin bodies
(Barrow, 1997). Urban and regional planning has roots in holistic, ecosystem approaches as well-
things that have of late caught the attention of those interested in environmental management
(Slocombe, 1993:290). Nevertheless, natural resources management (in contrast with
environmental management) is more related to specific components of the Earth- resources that
have utility and can be exploited mostly for short term and which prove advantageous to special
interest groups organizations or governments. Moreover, natural resources management
responses to issues are likely to be reactive and usually depend on quick-fix technological
methods and a project-by-project approach. Natural resources managers usually hail from a
narrow range of disciplines, characteristically with limited sociological and environmental
proficiency. Their management can be authoritarian and may not succeed in reaching out to the
public; they also are likely to overlook off-site and delayed impacts. Owing to these anomalies,
natural resources management has lost ground to environmental management in the last 40 years
or so.

Definition and Scope

There is no precise universal definition of environmental management. The reason lies in the
vast scope of the subject and diversity of specialism involved therein. An attempt, nonetheless,
has been made to compile various significant definitions of environmental management. And
that exercise precipitates to the following characteristics of environmental management:

It is mostly used as a generic term.

It supports sustainable development.

It is concerned with that sphere of nature, which is affected by humans. (Unfortunately,

we can presently boast of very few natural regions that are free of human interference.)

It calls for multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approach.

It encompasses various paradigms of development.

It takes cues from physical sciences, social sciences, policy making and planning.
 The timescale involved is often long and the environmental concerns range from local to
global.

It assists us to identify and address problems simultaneously.

Fundamentals and Goals

In 1975, Laurence Sewell (1975: ix) thought that the environmental manager ought to be capable
to control both social institutions as well as suitable technologies, however should execute these
with the perception of an artist, understanding of a poet and, maybe, the ethical purity and
willpower of a pious devotee.

THE NATURE OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT

Environmental management is a way to reach out for environmental conservation, which

consolidates ecology, policy making, planning and social development. Its objectives consist of:

The obstacle and motion of environmental issues

Ascertaining restrictions

Ascertaining and fostering institutions that efficiently back up environmental research,

observation and management

Caution of threats and recognizing better prospects

Supporting and in all probability enhancing the 'quality of life'

Recognizing new technology or procedures that are constructive

It is obvious that these objectives obscure a lot of issues. Obviously, short term objectives must
be set in and contained by a universal vision (Dorney, 1989: 5). Without a universal vision, it is
not easy to circumvent split decision making or to implement a long term vision or to arrange
and recognise critical assignments. Environmental management as a result demands 'scoping'
(determining the objectives and putting restrictions on hard work) prior to taking some action.
From the early 1970s, famous texts have frequently published variations of 'Laws of Ecology'
(founded on four 'laws' published by Commoner (1971):

Any invasion into nature has several effects, a lot of which are erratic (environmental
management should deal with the unanticipated).

Since 'everything is connected', humans as well as nature are inseparably tied up together;
what one individual does, has an effect on the others (environmental management should
think about the series of events, looking further than the confined and short term).

A lot of care has to be taken that the substances manufactured by humans are not
obstructing any of the Earth's biogeochemical procedures (environmental management
should keep an eye on natural procedures and human actions to make sure no critical
process is disturbed).

Since the past few years, a number of environmental managers have started to put across their
universal vision and objectives by publishing an environmental policy declaration- to
demonstrate the purpose, recognize priorities as well as principles and provide the main reason
behind it. While this notifies the public, it does not promise healthy practices in environmental
management. Environmental managers should believe that there is a most advantageous
equilibrium between environmental protection and permitting human actions. Ascertaining
where that balance is placed is mostly dependant on ethics.

Clark (1989) disputed that at its core, environmental management asks two questions: (1) what
type of planet do we desire? (2) What type of planet can we acquire? Although agreement of a
most advantageous balance can be attained, the way to environmental management objectives
might take diverse ways.

Environmental management has not developed in seclusion: regional planners frequently

implement a human ecology method; other planners implement a systems analysis or an
ecosystem method. For example, McHarg (1969) used river basins and Doxiadis (1977)
attempted to create a science of planning settlement in equilibrium with nature- ekistics.
Rapoport (1993: 175) identified two key segments: those who implement a horticultural implied
comparison- Garden earth- and those who favor the one that is technological- Spaceship earth.
The diversity of challenges and the truth that a lot of different aspects are engaged (e.g. the
public, business interests, professions, local and national government, special interest groups, the
charitable segment), implies that when it comes down to it, environmental managers usually
focus on an area, ecosystem, area of activity or resource. Environmental managers who may not
be able to accomplish their goals could be criticized (or taken to court), get disrespected by their
employers and lose public faith.

Therefore, like a majority of supervisors, environmental managers are liable to follow risk-
aversion procedures together with:

Working to secured minimum standards

Implementing tolerable restrictions

Following a 'win-win' or 'least regrets' method (i.e. measures which derive advantages, no
matter what the outcome and measures which strive to decrease unnecessary effects
respectively)

In actuality, all these techniques aim at preserving or safeguarding the environment except if
public expenditure is extremely high. Following preventive measures is not free of cost. In a
majority of situations, it has proved to be expensive since quite a few things have to be given up
to keep the escape options open.
 TOPIC TWO
RESOURCES
Introduction
An ecological resource is anything required by an organism for normal maintenance, growth,
and reproduction. Examples include food, water, habitat and shelter.
An economic resource is anything obtained from the environment to meet human needs and
wants. Examples include food, water, shelter, manufactured goods, transportation,
communication and recreation. On our short human time scale, we classify the resources we get
from the environment as renewable, potentially renewable and non-renewable.(figure 2.1)

Figure 2.1: Major types of material resources. Potentially renewable resources can be
nonrenewable resources if used for a prolonged at a faster rate than they are
renewed by natural processes
Renewable and Non-renewable Resources

The development of technology has allowed for the exploitation of natural resources to a much
greater extent than our ancestors were capable of. Natural resources are those structures and
processes that can be used by humans for their own purposes but cannot be created by them. If
the supply of a resource is very large and the demand for it is very low, the resource is always
thought of as free. Sunlight, land and air are not even thought of as natural resource because their
supply is so large. If a resource has been consumed or if it was rare initially, it is expensive.
Pearls and gold and other precious metals fall into this category. In the past, land was considered
a limitless natural resource, but as the population grew and the demand for food, lodging and
transportation increased, we began to realize that land is finite, nonrenewable resource. The
landscape is a natural resource, as is readily seen in countries with the proper combination of
mountainous terrain and high rainfall, which can be used to generate hydroelectric power.
Rivers, forests, scenery, climates, and wildlife populations are additional examples of natural
resources. Resources, especially those like land, air and water, become more valuable as we
begin to exploit them more extensively

Renewable resources are those that can be formed or regenerated by natural process. Soil,
vegetation, animal life, air and water are renewable primarily because they naturally repair and
cleanse themselves.

A potentially renewable resource can be replenished fairly rapidly (hours to several decades)
through natural processes. Examples are forest trees, grassland grasses, wild animals, fresh lake
and stream water, groundwater, fresh air and fertile soil.

Nonrenewable resources are those that are not replaced by natural processes or whose rate of
replacement is so slow as to be ineffective. Therefore, when nonrenewable resources are used up,
they are gone, and a substitute must be found or we must do without.
Forest as a Resource

Most forest ecosystems have been modified by human activity. Originally, almost half of the
United States, three quarters of Canada, almost all of Europe and significant portions of the rest
of the world were forested. The forests were removed for fuel, building materials, to clear land
for farming and just because they were in the way.

Because of increasing world population, forested areas are kept under pressure to provide the
needed firewood, lumber and agricultural land resources. These same forests are important
refuges for many species of plants and animals, and are often essential as protectors of
watersheds. If the trees are removed, flooding is more common and much available water is lost
as run-off

The deforestation of large tracts of land has significant climate impacts. Forested land is very
effective in trapping rainfall and preventing its rapid runoff from the surface. Furthermore, the
large amount of water transpired from the leave of trees tends to increase the humidity of the air
in the forested areas. The shade provided by the tress and the evaporation of of water also tends
to moderate the temperature extremes experienced in the local area. Destruction of large areas of
forests can result in regional climate change.

More recently people have become concerned about preserving the carbon dioxide trapping
potential of forests. Trees trap large amounts of carbon dioxide as a result of photosynthesis and
may help to prevent increased carbon dioxide levels that contribute to global warming.

Forest Management Practices

Whenever a resource is exploited, several different interests are put into conflict. Two major
ones are economic interests and environmental interests. Economic factors are easy to measure.
The cost of exploitation and the financial return for this expenditure are the primary issues. The
environmental viewpoint is often difficult to put into monetary terms and must always rely on
ethical or biological arguments to temper the economic arguments. Modern forest management
practices in many parts of the world involve a compromise between these two points of view.

The forests of the world are known quantities. The economic worth of the standing timber can be
assessed, and the value of the forests for wildlife and watershed protection can be given a value.
However, beyond that, the harvesting of forests changes ecosystem from its original
“wilderness” character. Logging removes the trees and therefore, the habitat for many kinds of
animals that require a mature stands of timber. An area that has recently been logged is not very
scenic and the roads and other changes necessary to allow the logging process to continue often
irreversibly alter the area‟s wilderness character. Therefore, it becomes necessary to consciously
decide whether a forest is going\ to be used for the production of timber or if it is designated a
wilderness area.

Several areas of concern must be addressed when it is decided that a forested area will be logged.
Removal of trees from an area exposes the soil to increased erosion. Because the soil‟s water
holding ability is related to the organic material and roots in the soil, denuded land allows water
to run off rather than sink into it. Soil particle are carried by this water and can wash into
streams, where they cause siltation. The loss of soil particles reduces the soil‟s fertility. The
particles that enter streams may cover spawning sites and eliminate fish populations. If the trees
along the stream are removed, the water will be warmed by the increased sunlight. This may also
have a negative effect on the fish population.

One of the most controversial forest-logging practices is clear cutting. As the name implies, all
of the trees in a large area are removed, which is a very economical method of harvesting trees.
However, clear-cutting exposes the soil to significant erosive forces. If done in large blocks, it
may slow reestablishment of forest and have significant effects on wildlife.

Clear-cutting can be very destructive on sites with steep slopes or where re-growth is slow.
Under these circumstances, it may be possible to use patch-work clear-cutting. Other methods of
forest management practices include reforestation and selective harvesting.

Water Resources

We live on the, with a precious film of water – most of it salty water – covering about 71% of the
earth‟s surface. The earth‟s organisms are made up mostly of water, tree is about 60% water by
weight, and most animals are about 50-65% water..each of us needs only a dozen cupfuls of
water per day to survive, but huge amounts of water are needed to supply us with food, shelter
and our other needs and wants. Water also plays a key role in sculpting the earth‟s surface,
moderating climate and diluting pollutants.

Supply, Renewal and use of Water Resources

Availability

Only a tiny fraction of the planet‟s abundant water is available to us as fresh water. About 97%
by volume is found in the oceans and is too salty for drinking, irrigation, or industry (except as a
coolant). The remaining 3% is fresh water. About 2.997% of the earth‟s water is locked up in ice
caps or glaciers or is buried so deep that it costs too much to extract. Only about 0.003% of the
earth‟s total volume of water is easily available to us as soil moisture, usable groundwater, water
vapor, and lake and streams. If the world‟s water supply were only 100 liters (26 gallons), our
usable supply would be only about 0.003 liter.

Fortunately the available fresh water amounts to a generous supply. And this water is
continuously collected, purified, recycled and distributed in the solar powered hydrologic cycle
as long as we don‟t (1) overload it with slow degradable and nondegradable waste or (2)
withdraw it from underground supplies faster than it is replenished. Unfortunately we are doing
both.

Different in average annual precipitation divides the world‟s countries and people into water
haves and have-nots. For example, Canada, with only 0.5% of the world‟s population, has 20%
of the world‟s fresh water supply. By contrast, China with 21% of the world‟s population has
only 7% of the world‟s fresh water supply. Already more than 300 of China‟s 640 largest cities
are short of water, and 100 of them are very short.

As population, irrigation and industrialization increase, water shortages in already water-short

regions will intensify and wars over water may erupt. Projected global warming also might cause
changes in rainfall patterns and disrupt water supplies in unpredictable ways.
Use

Since 1950, the global rate of water withdrawal from surface and groundwater sources has
increased almost fivefold and per capita use has tripled. According to a 1996 study, humans
currently use about 54% of the global surface runoff that realistically available from the
hydrological cycle. Because of increased population growth and economic development, global
withdrawal rates of surface are projected to at least double in the next two decades and exceed
the available surface runoff in a growing number of areas.

Uses of withdrawn water vary from one region to another and from one country to another.
Worldwide, about 70% of all water withdrawn each year from rivers, lakes, and aquifers is used
to irrigate 17% of the world‟s cropland. Some 60-80% of this water either evaporates or seeps
into the ground before reaching crops. About 20% of the water withdrawn each year is used for
industry and 10% is used by residences and cities.

Water Shortages and Increase in Supply

Water Shortages

According to water experts, there are for causes of water scarcity, these include;

1. Dry climate
2. Drought – a period in which precipitation is much lower and evaporation is higher than
normal
3. Desiccation – drying of the soil because of such activities as deforestation and
overgrazing by livestock
4. Water stress – low per capita availability of water caused by increasing numbers of
people relying on limited levels of runoff.

Since the 1970s water scarcity intensified by prolonged drought has killed more than 24000
people per year and created many environmental refugees. In water-short areas, many women
and children must walk long distances each day, carrying heavy jars or cans, to get a meager
supply of sometimes contaminated water. Millions of poor people in developing countries have
no choice but to try to survive on drought-prone land. if global warming occurs as projected,
severe droughts may become more common in some areas of the world.

Evidence of water stress is seen in the draining of rivers and falling of water tables. The Nile, the
largest river in the Middle East, has little water in it when it reaches the sea. Water tables are
falling on every continent, including major food-producing areas such as North China Plain, the
U.S. southern Great Plains, and most of India.

A number of analysts believe that access to water resources, already a key foreign policy and
environmental security issue for water-shortage countries, will become even more important
over the next 10-20 years.

Increase in Water Supply

There are five ways to increase the supply of fresh water in a particular area, these include;

1. Build dams and reservoirs to store runoff.

2. Bring in surface water from another area.
3. Withdraw groundwater.
4. Convert salt water to fresh water (desalination).
5. Improve the efficiency of water use.

In developed countries, people tend to settle where the climate is favourable and then bring in
water from another watershed. In developing countries, most people (especially in the rural poor)
must settle where the water is and try to capture and use as much precipitation as they can.

Water-Use Planning Issues

In the past, wastes were discharged into waterways with little regard to the costs imposed on
other users by the resulting decrease in water quality. With today‟s increasing demand for high
quality water, and restrained waste disposal could lead to serious conflict about water uses and
cause social, economic and environmental loses in both local and international levels.
Water use planning will need to deal with a number of different issues such as the following:

- Increased demand for water will force reuse of existing water supplies.
- In many areas where water is used for irrigation, both the water and the soil because salty
because of evaporation. When this water returns to a stream, the quality of water is
lowered.
- In some areas, wells provide water for all categories of use. If the groundwater is pumped
out faster than it is replaced, the water table is lowered.
- In coastal areas, sea water may intrude into the aquifers and ruin the water supply.
- The demand for water based recreation is increasing dramatically and requires high
quality water, especially for water recreation involving total body contact, such as
swimming.

Mineral resource

A mineral resource is a concentration of a naturally occurring solid, liquid and gaseous material
in or on the earth‟s crust that can be extracted and processed into useful materials at an
affordable cost. The earth‟s internal and external processes have produced numerous resources,.
Which on a human time scale are essentially non-renewable because of the slowness of the rock
cycle. Mineral resources include;

i. Energy resources (coal, oil, gas, uranium, geothermal energy)

ii. Metallic mineral resources (iron, copper, aluminium)

iii. Non-metallic mineral resources (salt, gypsum, clay, sand, phosphorus)

We know how to find and extract 100 non-renewable minerals from the earth‟s crust. We convert
these minerals into many everyday items that we either use and discard or learn to reuse, recycle,
or use less wastefully.
Costs associated with mineral exploitation

Costs are always associated with the exploitation of any natural resource. These costs fall into
three different categories. First, the economic costs are those monitory costs necessary to exploit
the resource. Money is needed to lease or buy land, build equipment, pay for labour and buy the
energy necessary to run the equipment.

A second category is the energy cost of exploiting the resource. concentrate and transport
mineral materials to manufacturing sites. Since energy costs money, energy costs are ultimately
converted to economic costs. When energy is inexpensive, inefficient processes may be
profitable; however, when the cost of energy rises, energy-intensive processes will be eliminated.

A third way to look at costs is in terms of environmental effects. Air pollution, water pollution,
animal extinction, and loss of scenic quality are all environmental costs of resource
exploitation. Environmental costs are often differed costs. They may not even be recognized as
costs at first but become important after several years. Environmental costs are also often
represented by lost opportunities or lost values because the resource could not be used for
another purpose. Environmental costs are also converted to economic costs as more strict
controls on the pollution of the environment are enacted and enforced. It takes more money to
clean up polluted water and air or to reclaim land that has been removed from biological
production by mining.

These three categories of cost are associated with several steps that lead from the mineral source
in its undisturbed state to the manufacture of a finished product. These steps are exploration,
mining, refining, transportation, and manufacturing.

Can we find substitutes for the scarce non-renewable mineral resources? The material
revolution

Some analysts may believe that even if supplies of key minerals become expensive or scarce,
human ingenuity will find substitute. They point to the current materials revolution in which
silicon and new materials, particularly ceramics and plastics are being developed and used as
replacements for metals.
Ceramics have many advantages over conventional metals. They are harder, stronger, lighter and
longer lasting than many metals and they withstand intense and do not corrode. Within a few
decades we may have high-temperature ceramics superconductors in which electricity flows
without resistance. Such a development may lead to faster computer, more efficient power
transmission, and affordable electromagnetic for propelling magnetic levitation trains.

Plastics also have advantages over many metals. High-strength plastics and composite materials
strengthened by lightweight carbon and glass fibers are likely to transform the automobile and
aerospace industries. They cost less to produce than metals because they require less energy,
don‟t need painting, and can be modeled into any shape. New plastics and gels are also being
developed to provide superinsulation without taking up much space. One new plastic can
withstand high temperatures and is not even affected by exposure to the most intense laser
beams.

Substitutes can undoubtedly be found for many scarce mineral resources. However, the such is
costly and phasing a substitute into a complex manufacturing process takes time. While a
vanishing mineral is being replaced, people and businesses dependent on it may suffer economic
hardships. Moreover, finding substitutes for some key materials may be difficult or impossible.
For example, even though aluminium could replace copper in electrical wiring, producing
aluminium takes much more energy than producing copper, and aluminium wiring represents a
greater fire hazard than copper wiring.

Environmental Effects of Extracting and Using Mineral Resources

The mining, processing and use of crustal resources require enormous amounts of energy and
often cause land disturbance, erosion, and air and water pollution.

Mining can affect the environment in several ways, including;

- Scarring and disrupting of the land surface

- Underground fires in coal mines that cannot always be put out

- Collapse or subsidence of land above underground mines, which can cause house to tilt,
sewer line to crack, gas mains to break, and groundwater systems to be disrupted.

- Wind- or water-caused erosion of toxin-laced mining wastes such as spoil heaps and
tailings

- Acid mine drainage, when rain water seeping through a mine or mine wastes
 TOPIC THREE

AWARENESS OF THE ENVIRONMENT

Environment includes all living and non-living objects. We live in the environment and use the
environmental resources like air, land and water to meet our needs. Development also means
meeting the needs of the people. While meeting the ever-growing needs, we put pressure on the
environment. When the pressure exceeds the carrying capacity of the environment to repair or
replace itself, it creates a serious problem of environmental degradation. If we use any
environmental resource such as ground water beyond its limit of replacement, we may lose it
forever. Therefore, there is a need to create „awareness‟ about Environmental protection. While
efforts are being made at the national and international level to protect our environment, it is also
the responsibility of every citizen to use our environmental resources with care and protect them
from degradation. In this lesson we will discuss the meaning and causes of environmental
degradation and the importance of environmental conservation.

Environmental Degradation
Environment constitutes a very important part of our life. To understand life without studying the
impact of environment is simply impossible. The need to protect environment can be ignored
only at our peril. We use environmental resources in our day to day life. These resources are
renewable and non-renewable. We have to be more cautious in consuming non-renewable
resources like coal and petroleum, which are prone to depletion. All human activities have an
impact on environment. But in the last two centuries or so, the human influence on environment
has increased manifold due to the rapid population growth and the fast development in science
and technology. These two are the major factors in reducing the quality of environment and
causing its degradation.

The environmental degradation poses a great danger to man's own survival. It should be realized,
sooner than later, that conservation and improvement of the environment are vital for the
survival, and well being of mankind. Natural resources of land, air and water have to be used
wisely as a trust to ensure a healthy environment for the present and future generations.
Environmental Problem
Some of the notable problem of environment can be identified as under: -
a. Land Air and Water: pollution of land and water has affected plants, animals and human
beings. The quality of soil is deteriorating resulting in the loss of agricultural land.
The loss is estimated to be about five to seven million hectares of land each year. Soil erosion, as
a result of wind and/or water, costs the world dearly. The recurring floods have their own
peculiar casualties like deforestation, silt in the river bed, inadequate and improper drainage, loss
of men and property. The vast oceans, after being turned into dumping grounds for all nuclear
wastes, have poisoned and polluted the whole natural environment.

b. Population Growth: population growth means more people to eat and breathe, and putting an
excessive pressure on land and forest, and ultimately disturbing the ecological balance. Our
growing population is putting pressure on land, leading to poor quality of productivity,
deforestation (the loss of forest land so necessary for ecological balance and extinction of wild
life leading to imbalance in the ecological order, loss of wild life heritage and ultimately
dwindling of several species). The growing population is not only a problem for the natural
environment; it is a problem for any other aspect of environment, say, for example social,
economic, political etc.

c. Urbanization: Urbanization is no less a source of pollution, and therefore, a threat to the

environment. Urbanization means maddening race of people from villages to the cities.
The net result of urbanization is dirt, disease and disasters. In a state of growing urbanization,
environmental problem like sanitation, ill-health, housing, water-supply and electricity keep
expanding. On the other, the environmental degradation is caused in the rural life due to
indiscriminate collection of firewood, overgrazing and depletion of other natural resources.

d. Industrialization: Industrialization coupled with the development of the means of transport

and communication has not only polluted the environment, but also has led to the shrinking of
the natural resources. Both ways, the loss is really heavy. Increasing level of heat fluxes, carbon
dioxide and particulate, radioactive nuclear wastes and the like create environment hazards. On
the other hand, the consumption of conventional source of energy leads to the loss of natural
resource. We are building a world without caring for future generations.
Awareness about Environmental Protection
In the past two decades, environment has attracted the attention of decision makers, scientists
and even laymen in many parts of the world. They are becoming increasingly conscious of issues
such as famines, droughts, floods, scarcity of fuel, firewood and fodder, pollution of air and
water, problems of hazardous chemicals and radiation, depletion of natural resources, extinction
of wildlife and dangers to flora and fauna. People are now aware of the need to protect the
natural environmental resources of air, water, soil and plant life that constitute the natural capital
on which man depends.

The environmental issues are important because the absence of their solutions is more horrible.
Unless environmental issues are not solved or not taken care of the coming generations may find
earth worth not living. The need of the planet and the needs of the person have become one.
There is no denying the fact that environment has to be protected and conserved so to make
future life possible. Indeed, man's needs are increasing and accordingly the environment is also
being altered, indeed, nature's capacity is too accommodating and too regenerative yet there is a
limit to nature's capacity, especially when pressure of exploding population and technology keep
mounting. What is required is the sustenance, conservation and improvement of the changing
and fragile environment.

The Concept of Sustainable Development

The world commission on environment and development (the Brundtland commission)
submitted its report entitled “Our common future‟ in 1987. This report highlighted and
popularized the concept of 'sustainable development'. Sustainable development has been defined
on meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising the need of future
generations. All developmental activities involve some amount of environmental degradation.
What is required is to take into account the damage to environment as a result of development,
and strike a balance between development and environmental protection. The aim should be to
achieve sustainable levels of people's welfare and development. The primary concern is how
many people can ultimately be supported by environment and at what level of quality of life.
The mainstream greens scholars like Carr, Brown, Dala, Schumacher, does not make sense and
others, all lay stress on "sustainability" of environment together with development. The emphasis
of the mainstream green' are not on pollution, but on (1) energy and its resource may be renewed,
and be kept renewing, (2) the waste be changed into raw-material, raw-material into waste, waste
into raw- material: recycling of waste into raw-material; (3) gross national product and its growth
targets need not be sought, but what should be sought is the satisfaction of real human needs'.
The greens say that growth means cancer, a cancer that threatens to spread worldwide, and
destroy all life. They accept industry if it is on small scale and is for purpose of self-sufficiency.
They advocate extensive decentralization.

The concept of sustainable development is more about environment and less about development;
more about stability and less about change; more about restricting one's wants and less about the
continuing material development more about the non-exploitative attitude towards environment
and less about harnessing it; more about small communities and less about the larger ones. It is
not a concept of development with environment, but is environment without growth.

Indeed, ecological degradation should stop. But why should the pace of development stop? A
disciplined uses of environmental benefits go a long way for all round development. Scholars
and activists assert that environmental degradation can be controlled and reversed only by
ensuring that the parties causing the damage should be made accountable for their action and that
they should participate in improving environmental conditions. What is needed is a set of norms,
which bring the demands of development and the compulsion of environment closer to each
other.
 TOPIC FOUR
ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION
Conservation is defined as the management of human use of the biosphere so that it may yield
the greatest sustainable benefit to present generation while maintaining its potential to meet the
needs and aspiration of future live, embracing preservation, maintenance, sustainable utilization,
restoration, and enhancement of the natural environment.. Natural resources include all the
things that help support life, such as sunlight, water, soil, and minerals. Plants and animals are
also natural resources.

The earth has limited supplies of many natural resources. Our use of these resources keeps
increasing as the population grows and our standard of living rises. Conservationists work to
ensure that the environment can continue to provide for human needs. Without conservation,
most of the earth's resources would be wasted, degraded, or destroyed.
Conservation is achieved by ensuring that the uses of resources continue. Conservation‟s concern
maintenance and sustainability is a rational response to the nature for living resources and also
an ethical imperative, expressed in the belief that “we have not inherited the earth from our
parents; we have borrowed it from our children”.

Conservation includes a wide variety of activities. Conservationists work to keep farmlands

productive. They manage forests to supply timber, to shelter wildlife, and to provide people with
recreationalopportunities.

They work to save wilderness areas and wildlife from human destruction. They try to find ways
to develop and use mineral resources without damaging the environment. Conservationists also
seek safe, dependable ways to help meet the world's energy needs. In addition, they work to
improve city life by seeking solutions to air pollution, waste disposal, and urban decay.

Each kind of conservation has different problems and solutions. Often, however, the
management of one resource affects several other resources. For example, the conservation of
forests helps conserve biodiversity, water, and soil. Forests absorb rain water and so keep it from
running off the land too rapidly. They thus help prevent rain water from washing away the soil.
Forests also provide homes for animals, plants, and other living things. In fact, a forest
constitutes an ecosystem, a group of living organisms interacting with one another and with their
physical environment.

Methods of conserving the environment.

Every single individual is actually able to participate in protecting this planet from pollution and
suffocation caused by all kinds of residues and waste “produced” by the world‟s population. It is
actually quite easy to go green. Taking care of the environment should be everyone‟s
responsibility and privilege at the same time; the privilege to conserve the planet for the
generations to come.
There are numerous ways in which environment protection and conservation can be achieved.
They are easy to do by absolutely anyone with a little bit of good will. There are three essential
verbs you should keep in mind: reduce, recycle, reuse. The 3Rs together form a virtuous circle,
the 3Rs virtuous circle as one contributes to the other and the other compliments the next

Reduce and Reuse

The most effective way to reduce waste is to not create it in the first place. Making a new
product requires a lot of materials and energy: raw materials must be extracted from the earth,
and the product must be fabricated and then transported to wherever it will be sold. As a result,
reduction and reuse are the most effective ways you can save natural resources, protect the
environment, and save money.
Benefits of Reducing and Reusing
Prevents pollution caused by reducing the need to harvest new raw materials;
Saves energy;
Reduces greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global climate change;
Helps sustain the environment for future generations;
Saves money;
Reduces the amount of waste that will need to be recycled or sent to landfills and
incinerators;
Allows products to be used to their fullest extent.
Recycle
Recycling is the process of collecting and processing materials that would otherwise be thrown
away as trash and turning them into new products. Recycling can benefit your community and
the environment.
Benefits of Recycling
Reduces the amount of waste sent to landfills and incinerators;
Conserves natural resources such as timber, water, and minerals;
Prevents pollution caused by reducing the need to collect new raw materials;
Saves energy;
Reduces greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global climate change;
Helps sustain the environment for future generations;
Helps create new well-paying jobs in the recycling and manufacturing

Composting
Compost is organic material that can be added to soil to help plants grow. Food scraps and yard
waste currently make up 20 to 30 percent of what we throw away, and should be composted
instead. Making compost keeps these materials out of landfills where they take up space and
release methane, a potent greenhouse gas.
Benefits of Composting
Enriches soil, helping retain moisture and suppress plant diseases and pests.
Reduces the need for chemical fertilizers.
Encourages the production of beneficial bacteria and fungi that break down organic
matter to create humus, a rich nutrient-filled material.
Reduces methane emissions from landfills and lowers your carbon footprint.

Main obstacle to conservation

The belief that living resources is a limited sector rather than a process that cuts across
and must be considered by all sectors
 The consequent failure to integrate conservation with development.
A development process that is often inflexible and needlessly destructive, due to
inadequacies in environmental planning, a lack of rational use allocation and undue
emphasis on narrow short term interest rather than broader longer terms
Lack of capacity to conserve, due to inadequate legislations and lack of enforcement;
poor organization (notably government agencies with insufficient mandates and lack of
coordination); lack of trained personnel; lack of basic information on priorities, on the
productive and regenerative capacities of living resources, and on the tradeoffs between
one management options and the other.
The failure to deliver conservation- based development where it is most needed, notably
in rural areas of developing countries.

ROLE OF EDUCATION IN ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION AND

MANAGEMENT
Students recognize or review the relationship between humans and nature. The students get
knowledge and skills from the teachers to solve the environmental problems.

The teachers motivate to develop the students‟ attitudes to participate various environmental
protection programs in favor of environment.

Education tries to inculcate the knowledge about environment and develop positive and healthy
attitude towards environment from the beginning of life.

Education enhances capacities and reduces vulnerabilities, which includes arresting

environmental degradation and improving management of ecosystems and natural resources.

Students learn about the ecology of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, and how these systems
can be managed to conserve biodiversity and protect ecosystem functions while providing
sustainable benefits to society

Education, which helps the public appreciate the importance of an environment and teaches them
how to protect it.
Education develops knowledge about the environment and its components as well as
understanding of interactions between them and to develop knowledge and skills necessary to
maintain and improve the environment

It develop understanding of the importance of social and natural systems “in supporting our
physical lives, economy, and emotional well -being” (Bergeson
et al . 2000, p. 22)

To make students understand the impact of personal decisions and actions on the environment
It increase the public awareness of the problems which exist in this field, as well as possible
solutions, and to lay the foundations for a fully informed and active participation of the
individual in the protection of the environment and the prudent and rational use of natural
resources
 TOPIC FIVE

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

During the early 1980s, the concerns of economic development were combined with concerns
about threats to earth‟s ecological equilibrium. Areas with high levels of biological diversity in
Africa, Asia, and Latin America often face issues such as rapid population growth, lack of
capital, and foreign debts, which lead to over-exploitation of natural resources and the loss of
biodiversity.

The ideas of sustainability reemerged to combat these problems, and the 1980s saw a focus on
the idea of sustainable development as a means of mitigating therefore mentioned problems
while still providing economic benefits to people in the developing world. The UN World
Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) was assembled in 1983 at the request
of the UN General Assembly. The WCED published a report entitled Our Common Future in
1987, which defined sustainable development as “development that meets the needs of the
present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

This is one of the most cited definitions of sustainable development and it governs many current
and ongoing development projects. Such ideas of sustainable development were considered
further at the “Earth Summit,” the UN Conference on Environment and Development, held in
Rio de Janeiro in 1992. Five documents emerged from this conference, including Agenda 21,
which is seen as the eight-hundred page “bible of sustainable development” that gives numerous
recommendations on how to implement sustainable development.

Changing drivers, such as population growth, economic activities and consumption patterns,
have placed increasing pressure on the environment. Serious and persistent barriers to
sustainable development remain. In the past 20 years, there has been limited integration of
environment into development decision making. Two decades ago the Brundtland Commission
report

– Our Common Future – addressed the links between development and environment, and
challenged policy-makers to consider the interrelationships among environment, economic and
social issues when it comes to solving global problems. The report examined emerging global
challenges in:

population and human resources;

food security;
species and ecosystems;
energy;
industry; and
Urbanization.

The work of the Brundtland Commission challenged policy-makers to consider the

interrelationships among environment, economic and social issues in efforts to solve global
problems.

The commission recommended institutional and legal changes in six broad areas to address these
challenges:

getting at the sources;

dealing with the effects;
assessing global risks;
making informed choices;
providing the legal means; and
investing in our future.

Recommendations emphasized the expansion of international institutions for cooperation, and

the creation of legal mechanisms for environmental protection and sustainable development, and
also stressed the links between poverty and environmental degradation. They also called for
increased capacity to assess and report on risks of irreversible damage to natural systems, as well
as threats to human survival, security and well-being.

Dimensions and goals of environmentally sustainable development

The most commonly accepted understanding of environmentally sustainable development (ESD)

is encapsulated by the Brundtland definition: „meeting the needs of present generations without
compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs‟ (WCED 1987). It is
recognized that meeting essential needs requires economic growth and equity facilitated by
„political systems that secure effective citizen participation in decision-making‟ (ibid.).

ESD has several dimensions implying different types of needs: economic, social, and political
and ecological/environmental.

Economic dimensions: economic needs such as adequate livelihood and productive assets, and
systems, and how these interact with the environment.

Social and cultural dimensions: social and cultural needs and systems, e.g. health, education,
shelter, equity, cultural institutions and norms, and their relationship with the environment.

Political dimensions: political needs (ability to participate in decision-making processes) and

systems, and how they influence the environment.

Technological: Promoting proper management of wastes and residuals and adopting

environment-friendly technologies

Environmental: Adopting environmental management weapons in policy and decision making

and also protecting the environment and conserving natural resources

It can be summarized as follows;

However despite the multi-dimensional nature of ESD there is a common goal: development that
enhances rather than depletes environmental capital or assets. Hardoy et al. (1992) point out
that environmental capital can be divided into three broad types:

• The „natural sink‟ capacity of local and global systems to absorb or break down organic wastes
and absorb gases without adverse effects on climate or the stratospheric ozone layer;

• The finite stock of non-renewable resources, e .g. fossil fuels and other minerals. Biological
diversity, one key part of environmental capital, might also be considered a non-renewable
resource;

• Renewable resources such as crops and trees which are renewable only within finite limits set
by the ecosystem within which they grow. Fresh water resources are also finite.

Principles of Sustainable Development

Many governments and individuals have pondered what sustainable development means beyond
a simple one-sentence definition. The Rio Declaration on Environment and Development fleshes
out the definition by listing 18 principles of sustainability.

• People are entitled to a healthy and productive life in harmony with nature.

• Development today must not undermine the development and environment needs of present
and future generations.

• Nations have the sovereign right to exploit their own resources, but without causing
environmental damage beyond their borders.

• Nations shall develop international laws to provide compensation for damage that activities
under their control cause to areas beyond their borders.

• Nations shall use the precautionary approach to protect the environment. Where there are
threats of serious or irreversible damage, scientific uncertainty shall not be used to postpone
cost-effective measures to prevent environmental degradation.
• In order to achieve sustainable development, environmental protection shall constitute an
integral part of the development process, and cannot be considered in isolation from it.
Eradicating poverty and reducing disparities in living standards in different parts of the world are
essential to achieve sustainable development and meet the needs of the majority of people.

• Nations shall cooperate to conserve protect and restore the health and integrity of the Earth's
ecosystem. The developed countries acknowledge the responsibility that they bear in the
international pursuit of sustainable development in view of the pressures their societies place on
the global environment and of the technologies and financial resources they command.

• Nations should reduce and eliminate un sustainable patterns of production and consumption,
and promote appropriate demographic policies.

• Environmental issues are best handled with the participation of all concerned citizens. Nations
shall facilitate and encourage public awareness and participation by making environmental
information widely available.

• Nations shall enact effective environmental laws, and develop national law regarding liability
for the victims of pollution an d other environmental damage. Where they have authority, nations
shall assess the environmental impact of proposed activities that are likely to have a significant
adverse impact.

• Nations should cooperate to promote an open international economic system that will lead to
economic growth and sustainable development in all countries. Environmental policies should
not be used as an unjustifiable means of restricting international trade.

• The polluter should, in principle, bear the cost of pollution.

• Nations shall warn one another of natural disasters or activities that may have harmful
transboundary impacts.

• Sustainable development requires better scientific understanding of the problems. Nations

should share knowledge and innovative technologies to achieve the goal of sustainability.
• The full participation of women is essential to achieve sustainable development. The
creativity, ideals and courage of youth and the knowledge of indigenous people are needed too.
Nations should recognize and support the identity, culture and interests of indigenous people.

• Warfare is inherently destructive of sustainable development, and Nations shall respect

international laws protecting the environment in times of armed conflict, and shall cooperate in
their further establishment.

• Peace, development and environmental protection are interdependent and indivisible.

Sustainable environment

A healthy environment is the solid foundation on which the system of a country depends.
Therefore, it cannot and should not be tampered with. The essential role that ecosystems play
in supporting our society establishes an environment that must be respected in all land,
resource and economic decisions. Our priority must, in all situations, be to maintain and retain
natural systems for present and future generations.

• Conserve life-support services: Certain ecological processes sustain productivity, adaptability

and capacity for the renewal of lands, water, air and all the life on earth. These processes include
maintaining the chemical balance of the planet, stabilizing the climate, recycling nutrients,
breaking down pollutants and cleansing air and water, stabilizing water flow, forming and
regenerating soil and supplying food and a suitable habitat for all species.

• Conserve biological diversity in genes, species and ecosystems: This incorporates the total
amount of plant, animal and other species that constitute the planet earth; the variety of
different genetic stocks in each species and the variety of different ecosystems. There are
three reasons for conserving the diversity of nature: as a matter of principle, all species have a
right to exist by virtue of their intrinsic value; as a matter of survival, the diversity of life is a
requisite for optimizing the biotic and abiotic conditions for the continuation of life and as a
matter of economic benefit, diversity of nature is the ultimate source of everything, including
food, shelter and other resources. Hence, we must strive to respect the integrity of natural
systems and to restore previously degraded environments.
• Attempt to anticipate and prevent adverse environmental impacts: When making land and
resource decisions, one must adopt a precautionary approach, exercise caution and special
concern for natural values and appreciate the fact that human understanding of nature is
incomplete.

• Practice full cost accounting: We have to make sure that environmental and social costs are
included in the process of maintaining the ecosystems and the people concerned need to account
for land, resource use, species depletion and economic decisions.

• Recognize our responsibility to protect the global environment: We must exercise

stewardship, reduce consumption to sustainable levels, avoid importing or exporting
ecological stresses and help meet the global challenge of sustainably supporting the
human population.

• Respect the intrinsic value of nature: Environment must be protected for human
consumption and enjoyment. We should not take undue advantage of the environment that we
possess today and ruin it or create a worse one for the future generations; that will lead to our
downfall and degradation, as a society. This is imperative for ecological and societal
sustainability as well. In the last century, the planetary population quadrupled beyond the
figure reached by our species in the previous 3 million years or more. It will grow six fold in
the next half century. This is a major alarm considering the argument that the human impact on
the ecosystems of the planet is obtained by the number of people multiplied by how much energy
and raw materials each person and social group uses and wastes.

There will be a small chunk of people consuming a lot or a lot of people consuming a little
Though the earth's ability to restore itself and absorb wastes can be enhanced by careful
management, there is a limit. It is crucial to know the optimal population that the planet can
support. Although we have yet to determine these precise confines, there are clear indicators of
what can and cannot be done and what stage human society has scaled today. Unfortunately for
us, the signs are not that heartening.
Barriers to sustainable development

Despite changes in environmental governance, and greater understanding of the links between
environment and development, real progress towards sustainable development has been slow.

Many governments continue to create policies concerned with environmental, economic and
social matters as single issues. There is a continued failure to link environment and development
in decision making (Dernbach 2002). As a result, development strategies often ignore the need to
maintain the very ecosystem services on which long-term development goals depend. A notable
example, made apparent in the aftermath of make public participation design daunting. If
participation is treated superficially, and embodied merely as a quota of specified groups in
decision making processes, it could easily be no more than “lip service.” The task of designing
modern, cross-cutting, transparent, evidence-based interdisciplinary decision making is not only
conceptually challenging, but also necessitates a huge increase in local capacity for democracy
and decision making (MacDonald and Service 2007).

Many social, economic and technological changes have made implementation of the
recommendations in Our Common Future difficult. As also illustrated in other chapters, changes
such as a growing population and increased consumption of energy have had a huge impact on
the environment, challenging society‟s ability to achieve sustainable development.

Finally, the nature of the environmental problems has influenced the effectiveness of past
responses.

Environmental problems can be mapped along a continuum from “problems with proven
solutions” to “less known emerging (or persistent) problems” (Speth 2004). With problems with
proven solutions, the cause-and-effect relationships are well known. The scale tends to be local
or national. Impacts are highly visible and acute, and victims are easily identified. During the
past 20 years, workable solutions have been identified for several such problems, for example
industrial air and water pollution, local soil erosion, mangrove clearance for aquaculture, and
vehicle exhaust emissions.

However, progress has been limited on harder to manage environmental issues, which can also
be referred to as “persistent” problems (Jänicke and Volkery 2001). These are deeply rooted
structural problems, related to the ways production and consumption are conducted at the
household, national, regional and global levels. Harder to manage problems tend to have multiple
dimensions and be global in scale. Some of the basic science of cause-and-effect relationships is
known, but often not enough to predict when a tipping point or a point of no return will be
reached. There is often a need to implement measures on a very large-scale. Examples of such
problems include global climate change, persistent organic pollutants and heavy metals, ground
level ozone, acid rain, large-scale deterioration of fisheries, extinction of species, or
introductions of alien species.
 TOPIC SIX

POPULATION AND THE ENVIRONMNET

Effect of population on the environment

With an annual growth rate of over 1 percent, more than 70 million people are currently being
added to the world's population each year. In the last 40 years, the world's population has
doubled from 3 to 6 billion. Population growth taxes the earth's natural systems. Forests and
wetlands disappear so that people can grow more food. Water becomes scarce as it is diverted to
urban areas and agriculture. Greenhouse gas concentrations increase as more and more people
use greater quantities of fossil fuels.

The problems of rising population in the world and the pressure on world‟s resources are
obvious. The rising population results in greater anthropogenic activity for both sustenance and
increasing standards of living. There is consequential stress on environment sometimes beyond
its carrying capacity. This is based on the „absolute scarcity‟ idea of Malthus which states that
the „carrying capacity‟ of the planet is limited and increase in consumption would result in
eventual impoverishment and therefore, one has to control population growth.

Any deterioration in environmental resources would directly affect the livelihoods of the poorer
section of the society more and therefore, the immediate need would be to address the
environmental degradation issue. There is a complex relationship between population dynamics
and the environment, and its importance in managing natural resources and ensuring sustainable
development. The linkages between population and the environment were further reaffirmed in
the Millennium Declaration and the 2005 World Summit Outcome Document.

As populations increase, so does food demand, which imposes pressure on soil, water, and
woodland resources. For instance, the need for heightened agricultural productivity burdens
surface and groundwater resources because of irrigation needs. Then, the drive for increased crop
yield often results in intensive and unsustainable use of farmland, inflicting long-term damage to
soil quality. Also, rising food demand regularly necessitates clearing new land forM agriculture,
which commonly means felling forests, thus accelerating soil erosion and interrupting the
hydrological cycle that spurs rainfall.
Deforestation caused by increased resource consumption hinders woodland areas‟ ability to serve
as “carbon sinks” that pull carbon from, and release oxygen into, the atmosphere. This hinders
forests‟ ability to act as natural mitigators against greenhouse gas emissions. Because of this,
decline in global forest cover both accelerates and deepens the ramifications of climate change

As developing countries modernize and potentially experience slower population growth rates,
resulting from wider access to education and improved dissemination of family planning
technology, a similar trend toward smaller households could result. This development may bring
population expansion to more sustainable levels, but it may also increase households‟ per capita
emissions output.

Ecological Impactsof Population Growth

The scientific study of inter-relationships among organisms and between organisms, and all
aspects- living and non-living, of their environment is called as Ecology. Thus ecology relates to
environment and ecological impacts of population means impacts of population on environment
and its various components
The Ecological Impacts of population growth includes - impacts of population growth on
Physical and Biological components of the natural environment.

A. Impacts of Population Growth on the Physical Environment

Physical environment means – non living environment or the land, air, water, soil and minerals.
The utilization, overuse and misuse of physical resources increased manifold due to the growth
of human population. As it has been told earlier, more population means more mouths to eat food
which requires more agricultural production. More agricultural production demands two things –
(i) more cultivable land, and (ii) advanced agriculture. More cultivable land has been made
available by clearing forests and by reclaiming wet lands, ponds and green belts. Advanced
agriculture requires utilization of more water, more fertilizers and more pesticides. Application
of fertilizers and pesticides makes the soil infertile. Clearing of forests has its own serious
impacts and the environment on the whole gets imbalanced.
More population means more space to construct houses and availability of more consumer
goods. It also requires more means of transport, more consumption of fossil fuels and more
pollution of air, land and water. Thus growth of population leads to pollution of air, land and
water. Different types of pollutions are causing a number of problems in the physical
environment that are further affecting the biological environment seriously.

B. Impacts of population growth on biological environment

The population explosion of earlier days and of present day also, has already caused and still it is
causing serious impacts on the global environment. As for biological environment, Human
Population has stressed most of the biological systems, comprising flora and fauna as well as
biological diversity.
Ecosystem is the smallest unit of the biosphere. Since most of the components of the physical
components are under serious threat due to population explosion, all the biological components
are bound to suffer the consequences. And, hence most of the natural processes have been altered
seriously that have caused serious imbalances in ecosystems. Let us have some glimpses of these
imbalances-

1. For expanding cultivable land, forests have been cleared on large scales. Illegal timber
trade by timber mafias and local pressure for fire wood have further depleted our forest
resources. These destructive activities of human being have driven away many species of
wild animals and have caused extinction up to considerable level. Forests have also been
cleared for setting up of industries and for urbanisation. Thus habitats of varieties of
birds, and other animals have been destroyed through human activities. There are other
reasons of forest destruction also. Some of those reasons are forest fires and Jhooming.
Jhooming is the practice of growing crops after clearing forest land by burning the
vegetation. It is also called as slash and burn cultivation. Intensive agriculture and
mining have also caused large scale destruction of habitats.
2. Frequent water crises in many parts of the world caused failure of agriculture leading to
hunger and starvation. Vast varieties of plants and animals have been killed due to water
 crises. Frequent water crises often lead to migration of people and animals to other places
thus causing overload on the resources of those areas.
3. Poaching and killing of wild animals and illegal trade in their body parts have already
caused extinction of several species of animals.
4. Generation of waste due to increasing consumer culture and population explosion is
causing spread of serious epidemics and deaths of people in many parts of the world.

OTHER EFFECTS OF HUMAN OVERPOPULATION

Some problems associated with or exacerbated by human overpopulation are given

below:

• Inadequate fresh water for drinking as well as sewage treatment and effluent discharge: Some
countries like Saudi Arabia use energy-expensive desalination to solve the problem of water
shortage.

• Depletion of natural resources, especially fossil fuels

• In the industrialised countries air pollution, water pollution, soil pollution and noise
pollution levels increase with increasing population.

• Deforestation and loss of ecosystems that sustain global atmospheric oxygen and carbon
dioxide balance, owing to which about eight million hectares of forest are lost each year.

• Changes in atmospheric composition and consequent global warming

• Irreversible loss of arable land and an increase in desertification: Deforestation and

desertification can be reversed by adopting property rights. This policy is successful even while
the human population continues to grow.

• Mass species extinctions from reduced habitat in tropical forests due to slash-and-burn
techniques sometimes practiced by shifting cultivators, especially in countries with rapidly
expanding rural populations: Present extinction rates may be as high as 140,000 species lost per
year. As of 2008, the IUCN Red List enlists 717 animal species that have become extinct during
recorded human history.
• High infant and child mortality: High rates of infant mortality are rooted in poverty. Rich
countries with high population densities have low rates of infant mortality.

• Intensive factory farming to support large populations: It results in human threats

including the evolution and spread of antibiotic resistant bacteria diseases, excessive air and
water pollution and new viruses that infect humans.

• Bigger chance of the emergence of new epidemics and pandemics: For many
environmental and social reasons, including overcrowded living conditions, malnutrition and
inadequate, inaccessible or non-existent health care, the poor are more susceptible to infectious
diseases.

• Starvation, malnutrition or poor diet with ill health and diet-deficiency diseases (e.g.
rickets): However, rich countries with high population densities do not have famine.

• Poverty coupled with inflation in some regions and a resulting low level of capital
formation: Poverty and inflation are aggravated by outrageous government and inadequate
economic policies. Many countries with high population densities have eliminated absolute
poverty and have managed to keep their inflation rates very low.

• Low life expectancy in countries with fastest growing populations

• Unhygienic living conditions for many, owing to water resource depletion, discharge of raw
sewage and solid waste disposal: However, this problem can be reduced with the adoption of
sewers. For example, after Karachi, Pakistan installed sewers, the city‟s infant mortality rate
lowered substantially.

• Conflict over scarce resources and crowding, leading to increased levels of warfare
 TOPIC SEVEN

ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY, LEGAL AND INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK

GOVERNING ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT IN KENYA

Environmental Problems in Kenya

There are many environmental problems and challenges in Kenya today. Among the cardinal
environmental problems include: loss of biodiversity and habitat, land degradation, land use
conflicts, human animal conflicts, water management and environmental pollution. This has
been aggravated by lack of awareness and inadequate information amongst the public on the
consequences of their interaction with the environment.

A number of legislations, policies and instruments are available to support environmental

management. The Environmental Management Coordination Act and other sectoral sections in
other legislations are the key instruments that cover environmental management in all the sectors
of development.

Institutional Framework

At present there are over twenty (20) institutions and departments which deal with environmental
issues in Kenya. Some of the key institutions include:

National Environment Management Authority (NEMA)

The objective and purpose for which NEMA is established is to exercise general supervision and
co-ordinate over all matters relating to the environment and to be the principal instrument of the
government in the implementation of all policies relating to the environment. However, NEMA‟s
mandate is designated to the following committees:

a) Provincial and District Environment Committees

According to EMCA, 1999 No. 8, the Minister by notice in the gazette appoints Provincial and
District Environment Committees of the Authority in respect of every province and district
respectively. The Provincial and District Environment Committees are responsible for the proper
management of the environment within the Province and District in respect of which they are
appointed. They are also to perform such additional functions as are prescribed by the Act or as
may, from time to time be assigned by the Minister by notice in the gazette. The decisions of
these committees are legal and it is an offence not to implement them.

b) Public Complaints Committee

The Committee performs the following functions:

• Investigate any allegations or complaints against any person or against the authority in
relation to the condition of the environment in Kenya and on its own motion, any suspected case
of environmental degradation and to make a report of its findings together with its
recommendations thereon to the Council.

• Prepare and submit to the Council periodic reports of its activities which shall form part of the
annual report on the state of the environment under section 9 (3) and

• To perform such other functions and excise such powers as may be assigned to it by the
Council.

c) National Environment Action Plan Committee

This Committee is responsible for the development of a 5-year Environment Action Plan among
other things. The National Environment Action Plan shall:

• Contain an analysis of the Natural Resources of Kenya with an indication as to any pattern of
change in their distribution and quantity over time.

• Contain an analytical profile of the various uses and value of the natural resources
incorporating considerations of intergenerational and intra-generational equity.

• Recommend appropriate legal and fiscal incentives that may be used to encourage the
business community to incorporate environmental requirements into their planning and
operational processes.

• Recommend methods for building national awareness through environmental education on the
importance of sustainable use of the environment and natural resources for national
development.
• Set out operational guidelines for the planning and management of the environment and
natural resources.

• Identify actual or likely problems as may affect the natural resources and the broader
environment context in which they exist.

• Identify and appraise trends in the development of urban and rural settlements, their impact on
the environment, and strategies for the amelioration of their negative impacts.

• Propose guidelines for the integration of standards of environmental protection into

development planning and management.

• Identify and recommend policy and legislative approaches for preventing, controlling or
mitigating specific as well as general diverse impacts on the environment.

• Prioritize areas of environmental research and outline methods of using such research
findings.

• Without prejudice to the foregoing, be reviewed and modified from time to time to
incorporate emerging knowledge and realities and;

• Be binding on all persons and all government departments, agencies, States Corporation or
other organ of government upon adoption by the national assembly.

d) Standards and Enforcement Review Committee

This is a technical Committee responsible for environmental standards formulation, methods of

analysis; inspection, monitoring and technical advice on necessary mitigation measures.

e) National Environment Tribunal

This tribunal guides the handling of cases related to environmental offences in the Republic of
Kenya.

f) National Environment Council (NEC)

EMCA 1999 No. 8 part iii section 4 outlines the establishment of the National Environment
Council (NEC). NEC is responsible for policy formulation and directions for purposes of
EMCA; set national goals and objectives and determines policies and priorities for the protection
of the environment and promote co-operation among public departments, local authorities,
private sector, non-governmental organizations and such other organizations engaged in
environmental protection programmes.

LEGAL FRAMEWORKS THAT GOVERN THE ENVIRONMENT

The Forest Act (Act Number 7 of 2005)

This is law was enacted by Parliament in 2005 to provide for the establishment,
development and sustainable management including conservation and rational utilization of
forest resources for the socio-economic development of the country.

Section 8 of the Act requires all indigenous forests and woodlands to be managed on a
sustainable basis for the purposes inter alia of conservation of water, soil and biodiversity,
riverline and shoreline protection, sustainable production of wood and non-wood products.

Community participation as provided for under Section 46 of the Act should be

encouraged. The most appropriate would be initiation of participatory forest management in
these forest reserves so that the local community and organization can have a significant
input with Kenya Forest Service (KFS) office playing a coordination and guidance role.

Water Act, 2002

Part II, section 18, of the Water Act 2002 provides for national monitoring and information
system on water resources. Following on this, sub-section 3 allows the Water Resources
Management Authority (WRMA) to demand from any person or institution, specified
information, documents, samples or materials on water resources. Under these rules, specific
records may require to be kept by a facility operator and the information thereof furnished to the
authority.
The Water Act Cap 372 vests the rights of all water to the state, and the power for the control of
all body of water with the Minister, the powers is exercised through the Minister and the Director
of water resources in consultation with the water catchments boards, it aims at provision
ofconservation of water and appointment and use of water resources. Part II Section 18 provides
for national monitoring and information systems on water resources. Following on this, Sub-
section 3 allows the Water Resources Management Authority to demand from any person,
specified information, documents, samples or materials on water resources. Under these
rules,specific records may be required to be kept and the information thereof furnished to the
authority on demand.

Physical Planning Act, 1996

The Local Authorities are empowered under section 29 of the Act to reserve and maintain all
land planned for open spaces, parks, urban forests and green belts. The same section, therefore
allows for the prohibition or control of the use and development of land and buildings in the
interest of proper and orderly development of an area.

Section 24 of the Physical Planning Act gives provision for the development of local physical
development plan for guiding and coordinating development of infrastructure facilities and
services within the area of authority of County, municipal and town council and for specific
control of the use and development of land. The plan shows the manner in which the land in the
area may be used.

Section 36 states that if in connection with development application a local authority is of the
opinion that, the proposed activity will have injurious impact on the environment, the applicant
shall be required to submit together with the application an Environmental Impact Assessment
report. The environmental impact assessment report must be approved by the National
Environmental Management Authority (NEMA) and followed by annual environmental audits as
spelled out by EMCA 1999. Section 38 states that if the local authority finds out that the
development activity is not complying to all laid down regulations, the local authority may serve
an enforcement notice specifying the conditions of the development permissions alleged to have
been contravened and compel the developer to restore the land to it's original conditions.
Environmental Management and Coordination (Noise and Excessive vibration pollution)
(Control) Regulations, 2009 (Legal Notice 61)

This regulation prohibits any person to cause unreasonable, unnecessary or unusual noise which
annoys, disturbs, injures or endangers the comfort, repose, health or safety of others and the
environment. Part 11 section 6(1) provides that no person is shall cause noise from any source
which exceeds any sound level as set out in the First Schedule of the regulations.

Environmental Management and Coordination Act No 8 of 1999

Part II of the Environment Management & Coordination Act, 1999 states that every person in
Kenya is entitled to a clean and healthy environment and has the duty to safeguard and enhance
the environment. Section 87 sub-Section 1 states that no person shall discharge or dispose of any
wastes, whether generated within or outside Kenya, in such a manner as to cause pollution to the
environment or ill health to any person, while Section 88 provides for acquiring of a license for
generation, transporting or operating waste disposal facility.

Occupational Safety and Health Act 2007

In Section 6 (1), it is stated that the occupier shall ensure the safety, health and welfare at work
of all persons working in his work place. Without prejudice to the generality of an occupier‟s
duty under sub section 1 above, the duties of the occupier includes:-

The provision and maintenance of plant and systems and procedures of work that are safe
and without risk to health;
Arrangements for ensuring safety and absence of risks to health andconnection with the
use, handling, st orage and transport of articles and substances;
 The provision of such information, instruction, training and supervision as is necessary to
ensure the safety and health at work of every person employed;
The maintenance of any workplace under the occupier‟s control, in a condition that is
safe and without risks to health and the provision and maintenance of means of access to
and egress from it that are safe and without such risks to health;
The provision and maintenance of a working environment for every person employed that
is, safe, without risks to health, and adequate as regards facilities and arrangements for
the employees welfare at work;
Inform all persons employed of:-
Any risks from new technologies; and
Imminent danger; and
Ensuring that every person employed participates in the application and review of safety
and health measures.

Every occupier shall carry appropriate risk assessments in relation to the safety and health of
persons employed and adopt preventive and protective measures to ensure that under all
conditions of their intended use without risk to health and comply with the requirements of
safety and health provisions.

The occupier shall send a copy of a report of Risk Assessment carried out under this section to
the area occupational safety and health officer and shall take (occupier) immediate steps to stop
any operation or activity where there is an imminent and serious danger to safety and health and
to evacuate all persons employed as appropriate.

Public Health Act Cap 242

Part IX section 115 of the Act states that no person or institution shall cause nuisance or
condition liable to be injurious or dangerous to human health. Section 116 requires that local
Authorities take all lawful necessary and reasonable practicable measures to maintain their
jurisdiction clean and sanitary to prevent occurrence of nuisance or condition liable to injuries or
dangerous to human health.
INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS AND CONVENTIONS RELEVANT TO
ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT

AGREEMENT/CONVENTION DESCRIPTION
CLIMATE CHANGE/AIR QUALITY
Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Protection of the ozone layer, came into force
Ozone Layer, 1985 in
1988,
Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete Protection of the ozone layer.
the
Ozone Layer, 1989
United Nations Framework Convention on Control of greenhouse gas emissions.
Climate Change(UNFCC), 1994
Kyoto Protocol, 1997 Greenhouse gas emissions targets.
CHEMICAL USE/POLLUTION/WASTE
The Geneva Convention, 1979 Establishes protocols for emissions of sulphur
dioxide, nitrogen oxides, volatile organic
hydrocarbons, ammonia, persistent organic
pollutants, and heavy metals
Rotterdam Convention, 1998 Sets procedure for import and export of certain
hazardous chemicals and pesticides
The Stockholm Convention, 2001 Prohibits the use, production, import or export
of twelve hazardous substances including PCB,
DDT and dioxin.
BIODIVERSITY/PROTECTED AREAS
Convention on Wetlands of International The conservation and sustainable utilization of
Importance especially as Waterfowl Habitat wetlands, i.e. to stem progressive
(Ramsar Convention), 1971 encroachment on and loss of wetlands now and
 in the future, recognizing the fundamental
ecological functions of wetlands and their
economic, cultural, scientific, and recreational
value.

Convention on the International Trade of To ensure that international trade in specimens

Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora of wild animals and plants does not threaten
(CITES), 1973 their survival.
Accords varying degrees of protection to more
than 33,000 species of animals and plants.
United Nations Convention on Biological Promotes development of national strategies
Diversity, 1992 for the conservation and sustainable use of
biological diversity.
Often seen as the key document regarding
sustainable development.
United Nations Convention to Combat To combat desertification and mitigate the
Desertification, 1994 effects of drought through national action
programs that incorporate long term strategies
supported by international cooperation and
partnership arrangements.
CULTURAL HERITAGE
UNESCO Convention Concerning the Promotes cooperation among nations to protect
Protection of the World Cultural and Natural heritage from around the world that is of such
Heritage, 1972 (World Heritage Convention) outstanding universal value that its
conservation is important for current and future
generations.

ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS AND PHILOSOPHY

Ethics is a branch of philosophy concerned with morals (the distinct between wrong and right)
and values (the ultimate worth of actions or things) ethics evaluates the relationships, rules,
principles, or codes that require or forbid certain conduct.

Environmental ethics asks about the moral relationships between humans and the world around
us? Do we have special duties, obligations, or responsibilities to other species or to nature in
general? Are there ethical principles governing our relations to other humans? How are our
obligations and responsibilities to nature weighed against human values and interest? Do some
interests or values supercede others?

Values, Rights and obligations

For many philosophers, only humans are moral agents, beings capable of acting morally or
immorally and who can – should accept responsibility of their act, capacities that enable humans
to form moral judgment include moral deliberation, they resolve to carry out decisions, and the
responsibility to hold oneself answerable for falling to do what is right. Of course not all humans
have these capacities all the time. People lacking this include children, mentally ill or retarded or
some reason lacking full use of reason.

Historically, the idea that weaker member of society deserve equal treatment with those who are
stronger was not a universally held opinion. In many societies, women, children, outsiders and
others were treated as property by those who were more powerful. Gradually we have come to
believe that all humans have certain inalienable rights: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness
for example no one can ethically treat another human as mere object for their own pleasure,
gratification or profit. This gradually widening definition of whom we consider ethically
significant called moral extensionism.

Intrinsic and instrumental values

Rather than couch ethics strictly in terms of right, some philosophers prefer to consider values.
Value is a measure of the worth of something. But value can either be inherent or conferred. All
humans, we believe, have inherent value- an intrinsic or innate worth- simply because they are
human. They deserve moral consideration no matter who they are or what they do. Tools on the
other hand have, have conferred, or instrumental value. They are worth something only because
they are valued by someone who matter.

Worldviews and ethical perspective

Our beliefs about our proper role in the world are deeply conditioned by our ethical perspectives.
As historian Lynn White, Jr., said “What people do about their ecology depends on what they
think about themselves in relation to the things around them” in this section we look at how
some different moral philosophies reflect our attitudes towards nature.

Domination

Throughout history, many cultures claim that human hold a special place in creation. Pride in our
power to reshape the world to our liking and a belief that we are superior to the other creatures
often have been used to justify domination of nature. In an influential 1967 paper entitled The
Historic Roots of Our Ecological Crisis, Lynn Whit, Jr., traced this tradition to the biblical
injunction to “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth and subdue it: and have dominion
over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air , and over every living thing that moveth
upon the earth” Genesis 1:28. This view as the focus of creation is termed as anthropocentric or
human centered.

Stewardship

Many tribal or indigenous people, both hunters and gatherers, as well as traditional agricultural
societies have strong sense of stewardship or responsibility to manage and care for a particular
place. As custodian of resources, they see their proper role as working together with human and
non human forces to sustain life. Humility and reverse are essential in this worldview, where
humans are seen as partners in natural processes rather than masters- not outside of nature but
part of it.
Biocentrism, Animal right and Ecocentrism

Many philosophers criticize both stewardship and dominion as being too anthropocentric. The
favor, instead, the biocentric (life centered). Aldo Leopold a philosopher claimed that all living
organisms have intrinsic values and rights regardless of whether they are useful to us. A thing is
right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability and beauty of the biotic community. It is
wrong when it tends otherwise. For many biocentrists, biodiversity is the highest ethical value in
nature. Species and populations, as the basic units of biodiversity, are the locus of inherent value.

Some animal rights advocates question the importance of species or populations , claiming that
each individual organism if of value. They point out the the individual lives, reproduces, and
experiences pleasure or pain, not the group. Many ecologists contrasts , view larger scale
ecological processes such as evolution, adaption and the grand biogeochemical cycles as the
most important aspects of nature. In this view , which is described as ecocentric (ecologically
centered) because it claims moral values and rights for ecological processes and systems , the
whole is considered more important than its individual parts. If you kill an individual organism
you deny it a few months or years life, but if you eliminate an entire species, or a whole
landscape, you have destroyed something that took millions of years to creat.

Ecofeminism

Many feminists believe that none of the philosophies is sufficient to solve environmental
problems or to tell us how we ought to behave as moral agents. They argue out that all these
philosophies come out of a particular system based on domination and duality that assigns
prestige and importance to some things but not others. In a patriarchal worldview, men are
superior to women, minds are better than bodies, and culture is higher than nature. Feminists
contend that domination, exploitation and mistreatment of women, children, minorities and
nature are intimately connected and mutually reinforcing. They reject all „ism‟ of domination:
sexism, racism, classism, heterosexism and specialism.

Ecofemism a pluralistic, nonhierarchical, relationship oriented philosophy that suggest how

humans could reconceived themselves and their relationships to nature in non dominating ways,
is proposed as an alternative to partriachial system to domination. it is concerned not so much
with rights, obligation, ownership and responsibilities as with care, appropriate reciprocity and
kinship.
 TOPIC EIGHT

HUMAN SETTLEMENTS AND THE ENVIRONMENT

Human settlements is not synonymous with housing but rather it is the physical articulation of
the social, economic, political activities of the people. Human settlements include housing,
shelter, services and infrastructure. The main objective for human settlements is to improve
quality of life. The definition of human settlement is as given below:

“The fabric of human settlements consists of physical elements and services to which these
elements provide the material support. The physical components comprise shelter, i.e. the
superstructures of different shape, size, type and materials erected by mankind for security,
privacy, and protection from the elements and for his singularity within a community;
infrastructure, i.e. the complex networks designed to deliver or remove from the shelter people,
goods, energy of information. Services cover those required by a community for the fulfillment
of its functions as a social body, such as education, health, culture, welfare, recreation and
nutrition.”

Human settlements are man‟s territorial habitat, the place where he lives, works and seeks
recreation, and where he raises his family. The settlements are made up of physical elements,
such as shelter and infrastructure, and services which are required by a community, such as
education, health and recreation. The quality of life in the settlements is largely determined by
the availability of the facilities and services and their accessibility to the population.

In human settlements, there is interdependence between the natural and man-made elements.
The natural environment provides the place for human activities which in turn contribute to the
changes in the environment by introducing man-made phenomena.

Since the environmental impact of human activities is usually concentrated in settlements, those
intrusions alter the quality of the natural environment, often resulting in hazardous effects on the
well-being of the man. Not all environmental interventions, however, produce negative
consequences but the environmental impact in the settlements is a serious problem which should
be given utmost importance by the different nations of the world.
The most important and basic man-made elements of settlements are housing, industry, business
and commercial centers, social services and recreation. These elements are supplemented by an
infrastructure which includes utilities, community facilities, transport and communication
networks. The mere existence of man-made elements creates conflicts with components of the
natural environment, but the situation becomes worse when intensive economic activities
accompany settlement. Only after an industrial plant begins production are the problems of air
pollution, congestion and waste disposal created. These problems are aggravated once
residential areas are developed near industries. In this case, human activities have not only
spoiled the natural environment, but have worsened the quality of other aspects of the
settlements.

While the improvement of the quality of life in human settlements has been considered “the first
and most important objective of every human settlements policy”, the significant interactions
between development and environment can no longer be ignored. It is now a necessity for a
country to be concerned with accelerating economic growth and looking after the environment at
the same time in order to set the conditions for productive and sustainable human settlements.

A wide range of problems affecting the environment of human settlements have been identified,
as follows:

a) Rapid population growth, migration and urbanization,

b) Inadequate shelter and basic amenities

c) Overcrowding and urban decay,

d) Environmental degradation, especially through waste discharge and other forms of pollution,

e) Lack of services and related infrastructure in rural and urban settlements, especially water
supply and sanitation,

f) Impairment of the cultural heritage, and Human Settlements

g) Health effects and deteriorating living conditions. All these concerns affect the social,
economic and environmental aspects of human settlements.
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Hardoy, J., Mitlin, D. and Sattherthwaite, D., 1992, „Sustainable development and cities‟, in
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McKeown, Rosalyn (2002), Introduction in Education for Sustainable Development

Toolkit, Version 2, Center for Geography and Environmental Education, University of

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World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED), 1987,Our Common

Future,Oxford: Oxford University Press

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