ABSTRACT
Environmental and natural resource degradation can be caused by both too little and by too much economic development. Rural poverty and population pressure often combine to exert stress on productive natural systems: examples include the degradation of range and pasture lands as a consequence of overgrazing; loss of productive soils as a result of inappropriate agricultural practices such as cross-contour tilling on steeply sloping lands; and loss of productive forests as a consequence of shifting agriculture and fuelwood collection. Urban areas are also affected as population growth (including the influx of people from the countryside), urban sprawl and industrialization give rise to polluted water and air, congestion and increased incidence of disease. To the extent that these problems are the result of inadequate development, part of their solution lies in well-planned economic growth. On the other hand, economic growth itself frequently results in environmental and resource degradation. For example, many large infrastructure projects, including dams and reservoirs or urban road and service development, can require the resettlement of large numbers of people with accompanying social, environmental and economic problems. 1 Rapid economic growth often exacerbates urban pollution and congestion.
