Fragile lands management in Latin America and the Caribbean : a synthesis

Most of the examples and case materials used in this volume are drawn from Latin America, and a good portion are based directly on DESFIL"s experience. The following topics are covered in individual chapters: (1) an overview of the fragile lands problem in Latin America; (2) conceptual frameworks that influence our interaction with the environment; (3) technologies for fragile lands management (fragility and degradation on slopes and in humid tropical lowlands, managerial options, and on-farm technologies); (4) institutional aspects; (5) resource stewardship at the local level (including case studies); (6) economics and resource use; (7) the use of incentives to protect fragile lands and resources; (8) planning and policy; (9) tropical forests -- competing demands for preservation, exploitation, and conversion; (10) the use of environmental analysis is developing fragile lands; (11) environmental education and extension; and (12) summary of conclusions in this report. A general lesson is that the achievement of sustainable use of fragile lands requires that we simultaneously address the multiple causes of unsustainable use. A typical integrated approach could include: site specific environmental assessments; national-level policy reform to remove incentives for deforestation; national and local institutional strengthening; coordination among agencies having responsibility in the area; introduction of technologies and types of use appropriate to specific sites; appropriate incentives to get resource users to use alternate technologies; forms of local stewardship appropriate and acceptable to the different ethnic groups occupying the area; valuation of the natural resources of the area, including their potential value as amenities, for ecotourism, and for the preservation of biodiversity; environmental education programs that reach all segments of society having a stake in these lands, from policymakers to local resource uses; and a carefully designed long-range strategic plan to accomplish all this.