Natural Resources and Conflicts in Asian Countries

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Understanding of natural resources (land) by different groups
Natural Resource management approaches
Conflicts and other natural resource issues in ASEAN
Conclusion
References

Introduction

Natural resources are basically described as any thing that occurs naturally without influence of mankind. They are naturally distributed across different parts of the world. The unequal and uneven distribution of natural resources on earth is not an idea of mankind. Different parts of the world have different kinds and measures of natural resources. Some natural resources are abundant in some areas and scarce in other areas. For instance, oil is in abundance in most parts of middle east but very scarce in other areas like some parts of Africa. Natural resources are broadly classified in to biotic and Abiotic depending on their source. Biotic natural resources are those obtained from living things like forests products, and other products obtained from marine organisms and birds. There are others in the category obtained from decayed matter like mineral fuels. Abiotic resources are those natural resources obtained from nonliving things like natural minerals, land, and air among others. The presence or absence of natural resources in different parts of the world has influenced people’s perspective of their understanding, usage and allocation of natural resources (Colfer 150). Natural resources have also caused conflicts of interests between people, groups of people, territories and countries. This arises from the need to control, use and own the resources.

In this paper we shall discuss the conflict of interest in natural resource emphasizing on different people view natural resources, their approaches to resource management and their effects on ecosystem, the federal policy on natural resources and cultural identity and its effect on resource management. These will be discussed with much bias in Land based natural resources in South East Asia and America.

Understanding of natural resources (land) by different groups

According to Colfer (140)Different groups of people view land as a natural resources in different perspectives depending on how they use and exploit it as a natural resource. The recent global economic crisis is ascribable to how America view and value land. The former president of US argued that the greatest problem with people in US is that they do not own homes. He resolved to give people mortgages to buy homes at very low interest rates. This shows the most valued use of land in US. Contrary to this, in south East Asia, and is basically used for farming. The countries in the Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN) are the world’s greatest producer of natural resources like natural rubber palm oil, coconut, and hardwood among others.

Natural Resource management approaches

Due to the depleting nature of natural resources, there in need to manage them in order sustain them for future generation. According to Ghee and colleagues (27), natural resource management is a key concept in attaining sustainable development. Different countries apply different approaches in managing and protecting natural resources. The approach used depends on the way a country view a particular resource. Land management is emphasized in many countries. In America for example there is a government agency that is charged with the responsibility of managing public and private lands. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) takes charge in US. ASEAN may manage their land based on the land bases resources that they obtain from land. The American approach may be different due to how they use land. For instance they may place more emphasis on city parks where they perform most of their public address. They will therefore enact laws to guard city parks.

Conflicts and other natural resource issues in ASEAN

ASEAN countries are naturally endowed with vast resources ranging from natural rubber, hardwood, tin, coconut, fish and various marine products (Ghee & Valencia 85). These resources have for a long time been a source of conflict at the community, national and international level. These conflicts result from the need of various groups to have complete control over these resources. There is therefore need to control and manage them to avoid overexploitation. The approaches and philosophies ASEAN apply in trying to acquire this control is what in most cases leads to conflicts as most of them do not want to share the benefits that come with their distribution, control and use. This is because these resources usually hold great economic benefits. In most cases, the groups are held up so much in the conflict such that they forget to use the available resources in a sustainable manner and end up depleting them in the process.

Most countries in this region are home to the world’s major tropical forests, but poor governance and illegal forest activities fire up conflicts and as such conservation of such forests becomes an almost impossible affair. In most cases these conflicts lead to the loss of economic gains that would otherwise accrue to the different groups of people who are in conflict if the correct policies and governance measures were put in place to control the use of such resources. The Philippines is one of those countries that have been affected by such conflicts regarding forests. According to USAID reports the lack of accountability on the part of the government and their failure to equitably distribute forest resources and ensure they are run in a sustainable manner together with the lack of proper Laws has contributed largely to the regions prolonged forest conflicts (para 1-3). According to Inoue and Isozaki (19) these conflicts involve groups such as the militia, the locals, the international communities and the government itself. The international communities have been able to join in the issue because of the vulnerability of the forests as a result of the conflict.

Expansion of global timber trade has led to the depletion of these forests and when the timber itself is exhausted, those seeking to benefit economically turn to the forest land. The locals who should be the key benefactors of such forest resources end up on the loosing end and as such continue living in extreme poverty conditions. In most cases they refrain from fighting back because the damage and loss of life in the process becomes too heavy a burden for them to bear.

Forests resources conflicts have also been witnessed in Indonesia. According to the USAID, the conflicts in Indonesia have not been dealt with in the appropriate manner and in most cases go unreported and as such, nothing is done to try and quell these conflicts (2) Instead most of the attention is turned to the illegal logging that takes place in the territorial forests. Victims to such violence in Indonesia face negative impacts both socially and economically and their livelihood is ignored both at the community and the national level. These situation posses’ major threats especially in the future as the conflicts are set to continue and with them the continued depletion and misuse of the regions forest endowment.

The main factors that have been attributed to forest conflicts in Indonesia include the forests geographical location, the industries which use forest products and the amount of resources that are held in the forest. These factors together with poor land tenure agreements fire up conflicts between communities living around and within the forests. Law is also selectively applied in the region and the most violent of places are ignored in the process both by the government and the political class members. These conflicts are then sustained by issues such as the direct and indirect involvement of the military in the conflicts as they also seek to benefit from the situation, the major divisions in the bodies charged with the management of natural and forest resources in the country along political lines, abuse of political powers and corruption and also the tenure system that is meant to guide resource allocation in terms of land and forests is decentralized. All these factors coupled together with community based issues lead to a continued cycle of conflicts that can only be solve through the implementation of serious policies and controlled dialogue between the major stakeholders. The realization that such conflicts do not work for the benefit of any of the parties should be a major wake up call to all of them in the bid to finding a lasting solution to the menace (Colfer 145)

Conclusion

Forests in Indonesia, the Philippines and the wider Asian region at large have always been a major source of conflicts which have led to great losses in terms of human lives and economic benefit. This loss has extended to the forest resources and forest land and it is therefore necessary that action be taken to ensure that this does not continue. Stakeholders in the forest sector should push for the enactment of policies that will ensure that forest land is restored to the purpose of growing trees and the forests are replanted and maintained to encourage sustainability.

Those who seek to gain total control should also be restricted through the implementation of Forest Laws that restrict ownership and exploitation of forests and where necessary, Laws that support the co management of such forest resources should be enacted so as to reduce the level of the non beneficial conflicts and at best eliminate them completely. Well managed forests can lead to great economic benefit for all who are involved, such as the locals, the government and the international community, and should therefore such management should take precedence over conflicts. Resources of any kind are for the benefit of humanity and if not taken care of it is humanity that suffers.

References

Colfer, Carol. The Complex Forest: Communities, Uncertainty, & Adaptive Collaborative Management. Washington, DC: Resources for the Future, 2005. Print.

Ghee, Teck. & Valencia, Mark. Conflict over Natural Resources in South East Asia and the Pacific. New York: Oxford University Press, 1990. Print.

Inoue, Makoto. & Isozaki, Hiroji. People and Forest: Policy and Local Reality in Southeast Asia, the Russian Far Eas, and Japan. Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2003. Print.

USAID. “Forest Conflict in Asia: Seeking Peace and Saving Forests”. USAID: Online. 2007. Web.

USAID. “Growing Conflicts and Unrest in Indonesian Forests”. USAID: Online. 2004. Web.

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