Ch. 11— Biological Diversity and Development Assistance • 289 



Both approaches will be necessary in meet- 

 ing the challenges of diversity maintenance. 

 Within the context of U.S. interests to promote 

 diversity maintenance through the channels of 

 development assistance, it is important to stress 

 areas of overlap between these two approaches. 

 That is, emphasis should be placed on promot- 

 ing the type of projects that, on the one hand, 

 promote opportunities for local populations 

 and, on the other hand, maintain the diversity 

 within biological systems. 



This approach is based on the proposition 

 that the best way to maintain diversity within 

 a development initiative is to use that diversity. 

 Examples abound of efforts to capitalize on 

 diversity maintenance in areas ranging from 

 tourism to biological resource development (9). 

 This utilitarian approach should be approached 

 with caution, however. It is important to en- 

 sure that initiatives will be environmentally, 

 economically, and institutionally sustainable 

 over the long term. Identifying possibilities for 

 multiple uses of an area or biological resource 

 should be stressed. Further, it is important to 

 ensure that the benefits of such interventions 

 actually accrue to the people affected. 



A consensus exists that long-term conserva- 

 tion must have a base of support at the national 

 level and account for the interests and par- 



ticipation of local populations. It seems reason- 

 able, therefore, to stress these criteria in de- 

 velopment assistance projects supporting 

 biological diversity. These criteria provide con- 

 sistency in U.S. interests in conservation and 

 development and promote projects most likely 

 to succeed. Cases will arise in which the par- 

 ticular focus of protection inevitably conflicts 

 with local demands. Resolving such conflicts 

 is the responsibility of local or national gov- 

 ernments, although foreign assistance can be 

 useful, especially in providing resources to fa- 

 cilitate or compensate for a particular interven- 

 tion. Whether such support should be consid- 

 ered under particular development assistance 

 or through other channels is not clear. 



The greatest opportunities, however, lie in 

 taking a more forward-looking and anticipatory 

 approach by helping countries define strategies 

 and policies to preempt such conflicts. Support 

 for planning, management, and inventory of 

 diversity, promoting in-country expertise, and 

 constituencies to support diversity mainte- 

 nance initiatives help reduce the incidence of 

 conflict between development and diversity 

 maintenance. In the final analysis, the success 

 of U.S. support for maintaining diversity in de- 

 veloping countries will depend on success in 

 promoting the capacity in the developing coun- 

 tries themselves. 



U.S. RESPONSE 



After nearly a decade of legislative and 

 administrative concern about the role of U.S. 

 foreign assistance in environmental protection 

 (see box 11-B], the case for U.S. action to con- 

 serve diversity in developing countries was rec- 

 ognized in Section 119 of the Foreign Assis- 

 tance Act (FAA), added by Congress as part of 

 the International Environment Protection Act 

 of 1983 (Public Law 180-64). This amendment 

 includes the following: 



• authorizes the President to furnish assis- 

 tance to countries in protecting and main- 

 taining wildlife habitats and in developing 

 sound wildlife management and plant con- 

 servation programs (Sec. 119(b)); 



• directs the Administrator of AID, in con- 

 sultation with the heads of other appropri- 

 ate government agencies, to develop a U.S. 

 strategy including specific policies and 

 programs to protect and conserve biologi- 

 cal diversity in developing countries (Sec. 

 119(c)); and 



• requires the President to report annually 

 to Congress on the implementation of Sec- 

 tion 119 (Sec. 119(d)). 



Section 119 signals Congress' belief that U.S. 

 development assistance should specifically ini- 

 tiate projects traditionally undertaken by con- 

 servation organizations. In effect, AID has been 

 directed to deal not only with the foundations 



