APPENDIX 



Statement of Hon. Sam Gejdenson 



Our thinking on the environment has come a long way in the last 10 years. In- 

 stead of being expressed only as an interest in the preservation of exotic species, 

 concern for the environment these days is likely to take on a more developmental 

 focus. 



In fact, practically all the major environmental organizations are talking about 

 the environment in terms of whole ecosystems and broader development goals. 



Why? The simple reason is that it works. When environmental plans take into ac- 

 count the role of people within ecosystems, their need for sustenance and employ- 

 ment, and the pressure on countries to earn hard currencies through exports, the 

 plan works. Plans that are in the best interest of the environment and of the people 

 who must live and work in that environment are plans that have a chance 01 mak- 

 ing a difference. Simply outlawing the cutting down of trees will never stop deforest- 

 ation. Providing economic incentives to keep intact will. Prohibiting hunting in wild- 

 life preserves won't stop poachers. Fostering a tourist industry around preserve 

 might. 



Just as environmental preservation and development are intertwined, so too are 

 environmental preservation and substainable agriculture. So many issues in agri- 

 culture such as soil erosion, water conservation and desertification are, at heart, en- 

 vironmental concerns. 



Evironmentalists have been arguing for years that everything in this world is 

 interconnected. Nowhere is that more than in Africa where economic development 

 must mean increased agricultural production but it can also mean further environ- 

 mental degradation. That's the bad news. The good news is that if a path to eco- 

 nomic development can be found that is good for the environment, farmers will in- 

 crease their crop yields, biodiversity will be maintained for sources of genetic mate- 

 rial needed to make improvements in food crops and livestock, global climate change 

 that wreaks havoc on weather patterns will be reduced and denuded lands can be 

 recovered for productive use. 



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