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'''Reflections about the challenges faced by the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands for achieving its | '''Reflections about the challenges faced by the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands for achieving its mission''' | ||
The | The '''''Strategic Plan 1997-2002''''' of the Convention states (paragraph 9.) that a greater emphasis will be given to a number of ''"new orientations for the future"'', the first three of which are intimately related to the people who perceive the benefits of wetland resource utilisation, cause their transformation and degradation and suffer the consequences of their actions or of the lack of them: | ||
:• ''"education and public awareness;'' | :• ''"education and public awareness;'' | ||
:• ''capacity-building for all stakeholders;'' | :• ''capacity-building for all stakeholders;'' | ||
| Línea 16: | Línea 16: | ||
The challenge of reaching sustainable utilisation of wetlands, at least in rural, underdeveloped poor, Latin America, is the one of: a. understanding peoples motivations and decision making processes; b. designing the social institutions (laws, restrictions, stimuli and punitive controls, and so on) with this understanding as the starting point. | The challenge of reaching sustainable utilisation of wetlands, at least in rural, underdeveloped poor, Latin America, is the one of: a. understanding peoples motivations and decision making processes; b. designing the social institutions (laws, restrictions, stimuli and punitive controls, and so on) with this understanding as the starting point. | ||
Rural inhabitants in wetlands and flood plains everywhere in the underdeveloped regions of the world strongly depend on local biodiversity for their basic needs: food, fuel, shelter and so on. The tradable surplus generates some complementary income for other goods and services. This relationship is desirable and ought to be maintained and improved, but within a context of an ecological rationality that permits the persistence of the resources and of the physical conditions that make them possible, that elevates to the category of resource other elements presently under-utilised, and stimulates the local transformation (value added) of some resources to improve their price or facilitate their trade. This scenario ''–sustained development–'' can only reached if there is a systematic accumulation of information not only about the environment and the resources, but also about the cultural, social and economical reasons of their utilisation patterns. The integrated documentation of the natural and cultural processes should throw light on the possibilities of adequate management, i.e., help to define the type of pilot experiments for sustainable utilisation that ought to be implemented, from the planning stage on, with the active participation of the resource users. The implementation of schemes, economically and ecologically sound but socially indiscriminate, are a grave risk that could lead to a systematic refusal to change. | Rural inhabitants in wetlands and flood plains everywhere in the underdeveloped regions of the world strongly depend on local biodiversity for their basic needs: food, fuel, shelter and so on. The tradable surplus generates some complementary income for other goods and services. This relationship is desirable and ought to be maintained and improved, but within a context of an ecological rationality that permits the persistence of the resources and of the physical conditions that make them possible, that elevates to the category of resource other elements presently under-utilised, and stimulates the local transformation (value added) of some resources to improve their price or facilitate their trade. This scenario ''–sustained development–'' can only be reached if there is a systematic accumulation of information not only about the environment and the resources, but also about the cultural, social and economical reasons of their utilisation patterns. The integrated documentation of the natural and cultural processes should throw light on the possibilities of adequate management, i.e., help to define the type of pilot experiments for sustainable utilisation that ought to be implemented, from the planning stage on, with the active participation of the resource users. The implementation of schemes, economically and ecologically sound but socially indiscriminate, are a grave risk that could lead to a systematic refusal to change. | ||
[[usuario:Lcgarcia|Luis Carlos García Lozano]]<br> | [[usuario:Lcgarcia|Luis Carlos García Lozano]]<br> | ||
Medellín, February 28, 2000 | Medellín, February 28, 2000 | ||
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'''Reflexiones sobre los retos a los que se enfrenta la Convención de Ramsar sobre los Humedales para cumplir su misión''' | |||
El PLAN ESTRATÉGICO 1997-2002 de la Convención establece (párrafo 9.) que se dará mayor énfasis a una serie de "nuevas orientaciones para el futuro", las tres primeras de las cuales están íntimamente relacionadas con las personas que perciben los beneficios de la utilización de los recursos de los humedales, provocan su transformación y degradación y sufren las consecuencias de sus acciones o de la falta de ellas: | |||
- "educación y sensibilización del público | |||
- creación de capacidades para todos los interesados; | |||
- inclusión de los humedales en la planificación y toma de decisiones a nivel nacional, provincial y local, mediante la participación activa e informada de las comunidades locales, y la implicación del sector privado". | |||
Estos tres nuevos énfasis están escritos, casi con las mismas palabras, por ejemplo en la Constitución colombiana, en la nueva ley y decretos ambientales y en muchísimos otros documentos de política y acción tanto oficiales como de organizaciones ambientales no gubernamentales. Por lo tanto, hay bastante coincidencia de intereses y propósitos entre la Convención de Ramsar y, en este caso, los enfoques públicos y oficiales colombianos sobre el desarrollo sostenible. No podía ser de otra manera, Colombia es país signatario de la Convención. | |||
El quid de la cuestión radica en las enormes dificultades cuando se trata de pasar de la mención retórica de los conceptos a la praxis real de entender y luego tratar de modificar las actitudes, acciones, sentimientos, valores, tradiciones de los pueblos, etc., para llegar a una especie de nuevo equilibrio donde los recursos sean persistentes y su utilización sea permanente. | |||
La diversidad de clases, culturas, motivaciones y valores de los pueblos -incluso dentro de las mismas regiones aparentemente uniformes de un país determinado como Colombia- rara vez o no siempre se reconoce o se tiene plenamente en cuenta cuando las estrategias se traducen en acciones, planes temporales, presupuestos y responsabilidades institucionales. Las referencias directas a esta diversidad y a las limitaciones que de ella se derivan podrían incluso estar escritas en los propios documentos de política, pero eso no significa que las acciones que se lleven a cabo incorporen realmente medios para modificar las condiciones preexistentes. | |||
Se cree implícitamente que los comportamientos profundamente arraigados, sin función social aparente, pueden eliminarse simplemente mediante campañas de educación y concienciación ecológica. Esto implica que las decisiones cotidianas de las personas sobre la utilización de los recursos son sólo una cuestión de ignorancia o falta de comprensión, cuando en realidad las personas podrían estar haciendo lo que en su proceso de toma de decisiones, tal vez no consciente, es lo mejor para ellos mismos, por desgracia en conflicto con el interés de la "sociedad en general", es decir, los responsables de la formulación y ejecución de las políticas pública, que sin duda deben obedecer a un conjunto diferente de valores y por lo tanto requieren un proceso de toma de decisiones diferente. | |||
El reto de alcanzar una utilización sostenible de los humedales, al menos en las zonas rurales, pobres y subdesarrolladas de América Latina, consiste en: a. comprender las motivaciones de las personas y los procesos de toma de decisiones; b. diseñar las instituciones sociales (leyes, restricciones, estímulos y controles punitivos, etc.) con esta comprensión como punto de partida. | |||
Los habitantes rurales de los humedales y las llanuras de inundación de todas las regiones subdesarrolladas del mundo dependen en gran medida de la biodiversidad local para satisfacer sus necesidades básicas: alimentos, combustible, refugio, etc. El excedente comercializable genera algunos ingresos complementarios para otros bienes y servicios. Esta relación es deseable y debe ser mantenida y mejorada, pero dentro de un contexto de racionalidad ecológica que permita la persistencia de los recursos y de las condiciones físicas que los hacen posibles, que eleve a la categoría de recurso otros elementos actualmente infra-utilizados, y que estimule la transformación local (valor agregado) de algunos recursos para mejorar su precio o facilitar su comercio. Este escenario -el desarrollo sostenible- sólo puede alcanzarse si se produce una acumulación sistemática de información no sólo sobre el medio ambiente y los recursos, sino también sobre las razones culturales, sociales y económicas de sus pautas de utilización. La documentación integrada de los procesos naturales y culturales debería arrojar luz sobre las posibilidades de una gestión adecuada, es decir, ayudar a definir el tipo de experiencias piloto de utilización sostenible que deberían llevarse a cabo, desde la fase de planificación, con la participación activa de los usuarios de los recursos. La puesta en marcha de esquemas económica y ecológicamente correctos, pero socialmente indiscriminados, constituyen un grave riesgo que podría conducir a un rechazo sistemático al cambio. | |||
[[user:Lcgarcia|Luis Carlos García Lozano]] | |||
Medellín, February 28, 2000 | |||
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Revisión actual - 18:28 13 nov 2022
Reflections about the challenges faced by the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands for achieving its mission
The Strategic Plan 1997-2002 of the Convention states (paragraph 9.) that a greater emphasis will be given to a number of "new orientations for the future", the first three of which are intimately related to the people who perceive the benefits of wetland resource utilisation, cause their transformation and degradation and suffer the consequences of their actions or of the lack of them:
- • "education and public awareness;
- • capacity-building for all stakeholders;
- • inclusion of wetlands in national, provincial and local planning and decision-making, through active and informed participation of local communities, and involvement of the private sector;"
These three new emphases are written, just about with the same words, for instance in the Colombian Constitution, in the new environmental law and decrees and in very many other official as well as NGO's policy and action documents. Thus, there is quite a coincidence of interests and purpose between the Ramsar Convention and, in this case, the Colombian public as well as official approaches to sustainable development. It could not be otherwise, Colombia is signatory country of the Convention.
The crux of the matter lies in the enormous difficulties when one tries to go from the rhetoric mention of the concepts to the actual praxis of understanding and then trying to modify peoples attitudes, actions, feelings, values, traditions and so on, in order to reach some sort of new equilibrium where resources are persistent and their utilisation is permanent.
The diversity of peoples classes, cultures, motivations, and values -even within the same apparently uniform regions in a given country such as Colombia- are rarely or not always fully recognised or taken into account when the strategies are translated into actions, time-plans, budgets and institutional responsibilities. Outright references to this diversity and the limitations from it derived could even be written in the policy papers themselves, but that does not mean that whatever actions are carried out will truly incorporate means to modify the pre-existing conditions.
It is implicitly believed that deeply rooted behaviours, with no apparent social function, can be simply eliminated by education and ecological awareness campaigns. This implies that people's everyday-decisions over resource utilisation are just a matter of ignorance or lack of understanding, when in reality people could be doing what in their perhaps not-conscious decision-making-process is best for themselves, alas conflicting with the interest of "society at large", i.e., the policy makers and implementers, which certainly must obey to a different set of values and therefore require a different decision-making-process.
The challenge of reaching sustainable utilisation of wetlands, at least in rural, underdeveloped poor, Latin America, is the one of: a. understanding peoples motivations and decision making processes; b. designing the social institutions (laws, restrictions, stimuli and punitive controls, and so on) with this understanding as the starting point.
Rural inhabitants in wetlands and flood plains everywhere in the underdeveloped regions of the world strongly depend on local biodiversity for their basic needs: food, fuel, shelter and so on. The tradable surplus generates some complementary income for other goods and services. This relationship is desirable and ought to be maintained and improved, but within a context of an ecological rationality that permits the persistence of the resources and of the physical conditions that make them possible, that elevates to the category of resource other elements presently under-utilised, and stimulates the local transformation (value added) of some resources to improve their price or facilitate their trade. This scenario –sustained development– can only be reached if there is a systematic accumulation of information not only about the environment and the resources, but also about the cultural, social and economical reasons of their utilisation patterns. The integrated documentation of the natural and cultural processes should throw light on the possibilities of adequate management, i.e., help to define the type of pilot experiments for sustainable utilisation that ought to be implemented, from the planning stage on, with the active participation of the resource users. The implementation of schemes, economically and ecologically sound but socially indiscriminate, are a grave risk that could lead to a systematic refusal to change.
Luis Carlos García Lozano
Medellín, February 28, 2000