ABSTRACT
The population of Asian developing countries doubled from 1.2 billion to 2.6 billion between 1950 and 1985. Currently, the figure is 3.1 billion out of the world total of 5.2 billion and is projected to increase to 3.3 billion by the year 2000. The overall economic growth in Asia has been impressive (>7%) but uneven due to high population growth; the poverty indices in these countries remain 30-45%. Of the >1 billion poor; earning <1 US$ d-1 person-1 with 900 million living in this region. Over 700 million people in the region still do not have access to adequate food to lead a healthy and productive life.1,2
The Asian Region by any standards (economic, cultural, linguistic, geographic) is the most heterogeneous and populous in the world and has become host of ‘mosts’. However, in recent years environmental degradation has emerged as a major global issue threatening the very viability of the earth’s life-support system and the future of those who depend on it. The damage to the environment began with the industrial revolution and has continued. The environmental problem encompasses several factors: (i) Rapid population increases; (ii) Poverty in the developing world; (iii) Depletion of natural resources; (iv) Loss of biological diversity; (v) Pollution of air, land and water; (vi) Global warming; and (vii) Ozone depletion. These interact and amplify each other. Man in his insatiable drive for greater material gain is destroying the very surroundings of which he is a part and without which he cannot exist. The speed of this motivated destruction is much more higher in the heavily populated poor Asian countries.
