Asia’s rich environmental management traditions sustained its people for centuries. Practical examples include the rice terraces of Indonesia and the Philippines and common property management of Japanese inland fisheries. Some of the greatest Asian thinkers – the Buddha, Confucius and Gandhi – had a profound appreciation of the dependence of people on the natural world.
Perhaps such traditions, in part, explain why the Asian public is more concerned about current environmental impacts on health and well-being than people in any other region (Environics International 2002).
In the early stages of Asia’s drive for economic development, Asian environmental traditions were challenged by economic development models that promoted the exploitation of natural resources for export. Forests were cleared, first for high-value hardwoods and then for tea, coffee and rubber. Mines were developed in previously remote areas.
