پنجشنبه ۲۲ شهریور ۰۳ | ۱۸:۴۶ ۹ بازديد
Asia: Japan
The Mountain Village Development Act and
its impacts on sector policies
Most of Japan is mountainous land, mainly covered by forests which
have various important functions in this highly industrialised country.
Mountain communities ensure that their forests are managed in a sustain-
able way, but they have been partially neglected by national policy mak-
ers. In 1965, in response to the problems of depopulation of mountain vil-
lages, the Japanese government approved the Mountain Village
Development Act. One of the aims of this act is to eliminate socio-eco-
nomic differences between mountain and lowland areas.
As in many parts of the world, the moun-
tain areas in Japan lack well-developed trans-
portation and communication infrastructure
and adequate social services. As local
economies are often weak, mountain areas
face the serious problems of depopulation
and ageing. Young people migrate from these
areas, particularly in countries with vibrant
economies such as Japan.
An integrated approach...
The villages targeted by the 1965 Act are
those in need of development, located in
mountainous areas with high forest cover and
declining population. The main objectives of
the Act are:
1. To improve communication among
mountain villages, and between mountain
and lowland populations, through transporta-
tion and telecommunication infrastructure;
2. To ensure that mountain land, forest,
and water resources are effectively exploited
through such measures as road construction,
electric power generation, and improvement
of agricultural land;
3. To strengthen local industries and
increase employment in mountain areas
through measures such as the establishment
of modern forest management and farming
systems, development of processing industries
for agricultural and primary forestry prod-
ucts, introduction of tourism, and the cultiva-
tion of markets for unique, local products;
4. To control erosion and prevent natural
hazards such as landslides and avalanches, by
maintaining and conserving forests and key
infrastructure;
5. To increase access to social services by
building schools, hospitals, clinics, cultural
centres, and other facilities, in order to gen-
erally improve living and working conditions.
...implemented
through sectoral programmes
Within the framework of this law, 12 min-
istries and government agencies have adopt-
ed and implemented specific policies and
programmes.
Recently, the 1964 Forest and Forestry Act
was revised to better reflect the changes that
have taken place in the mountain areas. This
was a form of recognition of the long experi-
Sustainable Development in Mountain Areas
Below: Mt. Fuji from a dis-
tance. Volcanic landscapes
are an important feature
of mountain areas
in Japan.
(Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
Japan)
Right: Education in the
forest. Children measuring
the size of a tree,
Hokkaido.
(M. Sato)
ence of the Japan Forest Agency in undertak-
ing projects to revive mountain villages, such
as preservation activities and educational pro-
grammes.
But the sustainable development of moun-
tain areas requires a multidisciplinary
approach. While the Mountain Village
Development Act covers mainly the social and
the economic aspects of mountain develop-
ment, environmental aspects are addressed
by other policies and laws, such as the Basic
Environment Plan and the Nature
Conservation Law.
Some mountain areas are also protected by
other laws, such as the Natural Parks Law, the
Forest Law, and the Cultural Properties and
Protection Law.
Greater cooperation among sectors
Though no specific institution currently
deals with mountain issues, Japan is commit-
ted to a comprehensive and integrated
approach to sustainable development of its
mountain areas. 12 ministries and govern-
ment agencies are working together to
achieve this goal, and close cooperation
among them is increasingly essential. They
hold regular discussions on both the plan-
ning and implementation of their policies
and programmes. Without this collaboration,
individual ministries and agencies will not be
able to meet the overall goal of sustainable
development in mountain areas.
Maho Sato
National and regional experience
Left: Northern Japanese
Alps seen from Hakuba
Village, Nagano.
A significant proportion
of Japan’s territory is
mountainous.
(Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
Japan)
Within the framework
of the Mountain Village
Development Act passed
in 1965, 12 ministries
and government agencies
have adopted and imple-
mented specific policies
and programmes.
Environmental aspects are
addressed by other laws,
and through the Ministry
of Environment.
(Source: M. Sato)
Right: Kamikochi
Highlands, Nagano.
Recreation in
mountains and mountain
forests is an important
function in Japan’s highly
industrialised economy.
(Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
Japan)
Local
development
plans
The municipal govern-
ments of mountain vil-
lages are required to
elaborate develop-
ment plans that
include programmes
for various projects
designed to achieve
development goals.
Africa: Morocco
Elaborating a policy framework
for conservation and mountain development
To respond to the challenge of Chapter 13 of Agenda 21, and also
to the need to conserve forests subject to degradation, Morocco’s Ministry
of Water and Forest, in coordination with other departments concerned,
began in 1999 to draft a policy framework for conservation and inte-
grated development of the country’s mountain areas. This process led
to the adoption of a strategy for protection and development
of these areas. It also had an important impact in promoting recognition
of the importance of mountains.
A broad focus
Morocco’s mountains cover about a quarter
of the nation’s total land area. A series of stud-
ies and plans conducted at the national level
have concluded that the mountains have sig-
nificant potential in terms of natural
resources; that their economic, ecological,
and social systems are fragile; and that there
is a need to formulate a specific policy for
mountain development.
To respond to these insights and the
increasing threat of degradation of mountain
forests, the national forestry programme rec-
ommended the drafting of a policy and a law
for protection and integrated development of
the country’s mountains. There was broad
consensus that the policy should not be limit-
ed to strategies and measures at the technical
and/or administrative level. Increasingly, the
need became clear for a policy to mobilise the
government administration and local com-
munities and actors, in a voluntary and par-
ticipatory manner. One objective of the
process was to create national solidarity to
benefit the mountains and their integration
into national policy.
The process of consensus building
The first step was establishment of an inter-
ministerial task force on the initiative of the
Ministry of Water and Forest. This resulted in
various working groups that included both
technical staff and representatives of research
institutes and NGOs. The process received
financial and technical support from the
French government.
Workshops were held on topics such as
delineation of mountain areas, agricultural
development, commercialisation, the handi-
Sustainable Development in Mountain Areas
The introduction
of the national forest law
in the mid 1930s declared
forests, which were previ-
ously owned and managed
by the community,
to be state property.
Deforestation was induced
by the selling of logging
rights to external contrac-
tors. Interventions
in this fragile environment
were so drastic that forests
did not regenerate. Local
people were even forced to
extract dead tree trunks for
firewood.
A new national policy
aiming at the rehabilitation
of these degraded forest
areas and restoration
of responsibility
to the local communities
could be a promising way
of reversing negative
trends and moving towards
sustainable development.
(D. Maselli)
craft sector, tourism, transport and access,
natural resources, social services, institutional
instruments for mountain development, and
financial and economic regulatory frame-
works for implementing strategies.
The process also included meetings in the
field with local authorities and leaders as well
as elected officials, with the further aim of
establishing processes of mutual learning,
improving problem analysis, and increasing
public awareness of the process. Both work-
shops and meetings in the field allowed the
government to define a realistic strategy for
the protection and integrated development
of mountain areas.
Innovative elements in the policy
framework
The framework had two main objectives:
decreasing the social and economic imbal-
ance between mountain areas and the rest of
the country, and combating poverty by stimu-
lating local self-governance. These broad
objectives were addressed by the following
strategy:
– promotion of a territorial approach, to pro-
vide mountain areas with a socio-economic
framework that favours the organisation of
communities for the management of their
natural resources;
– integration of sectoral policies and activities
concerned with basic social needs in a new
partnership, to ensure greater stakeholder
involvement;
– adoption of a partnership and a participa-
tory approach for the conservation of natu-
ral resources;
– incentives to increase national solidarity on
behalf of mountain areas.
The strategy was adopted by the Inter-min-
isterial Council on Sustainable Development.
Preliminary conclusions
Consultation about the drafting of the law
for conservation and integrated development
of mountain areas is also underway, and a
high commission has begun implementation
of elements of the policy framework.
One crucial issue was that the particulari-
ties of different mountain areas, or massifs,
must be taken into account when defining
and implementing concrete measures,
orders, guidelines, and regulations. At this
concrete level, the involvement of the local
stakeholders will be essential.
Ghanam Mohamed, Hammou Jader
National and regional experience
Remote mountain areas
often suffer from out-
migration to modern urban
centres. However, newly
built terraces still lacking
bush and tree cover
are positive signs that
people intend to stay
and that they believe
in the future of their tradi-
tional livelihood.
(D. Maselli)
The Atlas Mountains cover
much of Morocco
and are home to about
20% of the total popula-
tion. Accessibility is still
poor, and in particular
young people tend to
leave for the cities. They
are thus no longer avail-
able to help maintain the
traditional terraced land-
use system. A comprehen-
sive development policy
for mountain areas must
therefore include
provisions that make
it possible to connect
these remote areas
with the modern world
by means of roads, electric-
ity, telecommunication,
sanitation, and health
services.
(D. Maselli)
Africa: Lesotho
Water policy and management: trade-offs
between mountains and downstream areas
Water is the principal natural resource that the land-locked Kingdom of
Lesotho sells to its neighbour, South Africa. In the 1980s South Africa’s
apartheid government signed an agreement with the military regime in
Lesotho to build the massive Lesotho Highlands Water Project. Two of five
large dams have now been completed. The project has brought water rev-
enues, hydroelectric power, and major infrastructure to Lesotho and
water to Gauteng Province, the metropolitan and industrial centre of
South Africa. While the benefits to South Africa are clear, the mountain
people of Lesotho have lost arable and grazing land, and remote moun-
tain communities have experienced major changes.
The mountain Kingdom of Lesotho:
water tower for southern Africa
The Kingdom of Lesotho, one of the poor-
est countries in Africa, is completely sur-
rounded by the Republic of South Africa, the
continent’s most powerful nation. Sometimes
referred to as the “Kingdom in the Sky”, the
Lesotho Highlands receive the greatest
amount of rainfall in the region and are the
origin of some of the most important rivers in
southern Africa.
Whereas South Africa dominates almost all
spheres of economic and political relations
between the two countries, the peripheral
mountain kingdom has been able to market
one asset to the South African lowlands: its
water. The Lesotho Highlands Water Project
is the largest civil engineering project in sub-
Saharan Africa. This gigantic inter-basin
transfer scheme is designed to divert about
50% of the water of the southwest-flowing
Senqu River (Orange River in South Africa)
north into the Vaal River system for use in the
province of Gauteng, which includes the
major cities of Johannesburg and Pretoria
(some 7 million people altogether), and the
Witwatersrand, which contains about 50% of
South Africa’s industry and generates almost
80% of its mining output. The Lesotho
Highlands Water Project appears to meet the
crucial requirement of sufficient water avail-
ability for further urban expansion and indus-
trial development.
The governments that signed the contract
for the Lesotho Highlands Water Project in
1986 were South Africa’s apartheid govern-
ment and a military regime in Lesotho, at a
time when downstream Namibia was gov-
erned by the United Nations Council. The
present democratic government of South
Africa also recognises the importance of the
project, since for example the promise of
more equal distribution of water supply
requires higher quantities of water for the
large townships.
Managing white gold …
Diverting this amount of water into a differ-
ent watershed requires several dams and
reservoirs, a series of pumping plants, and
interconnecting tunnels blasted through the
Highlands. The entire project consists of six
proposed dams, 225 km of water transfer tun-
nels, the 72-megawatt Muela hydropower sta-
tion, and construction or upgrading of 650
km of roads. It is expected to cost US$ 8 bil-
lion by the time it is completed in 2020. Plans
for the inter-basin water transfer scheme were
agreed in 1986 and construction started in
1991 with the first large dam, Katse (1950 mil-
lion cubic metres), delivering water in 1997.
At present, Mohale, the second large dam
(958 million cubic metres), is nearly complet-
ed. Further project phases will involve the
Sustainable Development in Mountain Areas
Livestock husbandry
is an integral part
of livelihood strategies
in the highlands
of Lesotho. Especially
the wetlands, which
provide a perennial water
supply, are used
as valuable grazing areas.
(M. Nüsser)
construction of additional dams at Mashai,
Tsoelike, and Ntoahae. However, the viability
of the last three phases will be reconsidered,
as growing concerns about serious economic,
social, and ecological impacts have been
expressed by various actors, including the
World Bank.
Whereas South Africa receives all of the
water from the project, Lesotho receives
annual payments for the sale of water. This
will be its largest single source of foreign
exchange and is expected to boost the coun-
try’s economy by US$ 40 million annually.
Moreover, Lesotho receives hydroelectric
power from the Muela plant and massive
infrastructure in the form of roads and trans-
mission lines. From the perspective of mod-
ernisation, these are important development
incentives. While the capital, Maseru, and
other urban areas in the lowlands of Lesotho
have become independent of other power
supplies, the mountain communities in the
upper tributaries do not benefit from the new
hydropower, as most of the high altitude
catchment areas have not yet been connected
to transmission lines.
… for whose benefit?
The project is managed by the Lesotho
Highlands Development Authority, a semi-
governmental organisation responsible for
resettlement and compensation issues, envi-
ronmental protection, and overall construc-
tion management. Critics of the controversial
highland-lowland project point to develop-
mental and environmental problems such as
the prospective loss of thousands of hectares
of arable or grazing land, the involuntary
resettlement of 2000 people, and dramatic
changes experienced by formerly remote
mountain communities, combined with insuf-
ficient and delayed compensation for the loss
of grazing land, fuelwood, and thatch grasses.
Moreover, the high expectations of non-
agrarian income opportunities for the local
population of the Lesotho Highlands have
not been fulfilled. Environmental concerns
include the serious effects on downstream
drainage patterns, such as reductions of water
availability and wetlands, as well as other eco-
logical consequences. These concerns led to
huge protests over the large dams in Lesotho,
and the realisation of further project phases is
bound to be controversial.
Marcus Nüsser
National and regional experience
Large tussock grasses
(Merxmuellera drakens-
bergensis) used for rope
making. Indigenous
knowledge of botanical
resources and multi-
functional utilisation
are part of the traditional
resource use systems
in Lesotho.
(M. Nüsser)
With a height of 185 m,
the Katse dam is the
highest in Africa.
(M. Nüsser)
The Katse dam is the key
element of the completed
Phase 1A of the Lesotho
Highlands Water Project.
The reservoir has
a storage capacity
of 1.95 km3
.
(M. Nüsser)
Due to the combination of
high quantity summer pre-
cipitation and regular win-
ter snow, the hydrology of
the Senqu River is charac-
terised by constant water
supply.
(M. Nüsser)
North America: United States
How the people of the Warm Springs Indian
Reservation defined their own policy
Strong tribal leadership and an insistence on receiving fair value for natu-
ral resources have seen the Warm Springs Indian Reservation through dif-
ficult times. Through capable decision-making coupled with persistence, a
long-term outlook, deliberate diversification, and an ability to adapt to
changing circumstances, the Warm Springs Indians have created a home-
land that offers decent jobs as well as cultural richness and landscape
beauty.
Indian reservations:
a unit for policy formulation
Ancestors of the people of Warm Springs
are believed to have occupied what is now
Oregon for at least 11,000 years. As a result of
the westward expansion of white settlers, a
treaty was signed in 1855 between the tribes
of middle Oregon and the US government.
This treaty ceded 4 million hectares of land in
return for the equivalent of US$ 150,000 in
tools, clothing, provisions, salaries, and the
right to continue fishing at traditional sites.
Over half a million acres of forest and range
mountain land on the edge of their tradition-
al range were set aside as the Warm Springs
Indian Reservation, where several tribes,
including the Wasco, Walla Walla, and Paiute,
were forced to relocate.
Leadership, committed to a vision
Many Indian reservations have lost much of
their area or have been terminated since their
establishment more than a century ago.
Warm Springs is lucky to have had leaders
who effectively fought the many attempts to
reduce the size of their reservation – includ-
ing privatisation and subsequent re-sale to
non-Indians, inaccurate surveys, and frequent
changes in the legal status of reservation land.
In 1957, a major setback – the loss of tradi-
tional salmon fishing sites on the Columbia
River, due to flooding caused by The Dalles
Sustainable Development in Mountain Areas
The People’s Plan, 1999
Nearly one quarter of the 4000 members
of the Warm Springs Indian Reservation
participated directly in developing a com-
prehensive plan that goes beyond eco-
nomic goals to consider what is good for
their culture and the health of their com-
munity.
The 20-year plan is not a dry bureaucratic
document but rather a keepsake book, in
a customised binder for each household.
The whole idea is to have a plan that fam-
ilies keep and value. In the words of plan-
ner Jolene Atencio, “Our sovereignty is
based on us knowing our culture.”
Below: Action-packed
Indian rodeo is popular
with tribal members of all
ages.
(D. McMechan)
Right: Warm Springs
Reservation with
Mt. Jefferson in the
background.
(D. McMechan)
dam – was turned to advantage. The tribes
negotiated a US$ 4 million settlement from
the US Army Corps of Engineers, and pro-
ceeded to invest this money wisely in their
own future. Rather than distributing the
entire settlement among tribal members – as
is commonly done – the money was held in
trust for the reservation as a whole.
The development path
of diversification
The first big expenditure was an Oregon
State College study of the reservation’s natu-
ral and human resources and their potential
for sustainable economic development. This
study, adopted in 1959, has proved to be a key
investment in developing land policies to pre-
serve the integrity of the reservation.
Deliberate diversification led to investment in
a number of economic activities, about half of
which were successful. Today, the fruits of this
policy include a forest products industry, a
luxury resort, a hydroelectric plant, rental
monies from two utility-owned dams, and cat-
tle ranching. The reservation is filled with
young people, and a lively museum/cultural
centre celebrates the cultures of the tribes,
both past and present.
The tribal organisation continues to work
toward effective governance, including clarity
in its own relationships, roles, and responsi-
bilities. In 1999, a People’s Plan was elaborat-
ed, which further bundles development
under the vision of sustainable development.
Common lessons to be learned
This example demonstrates how a relatively
independent territorial entity, an Indian
reservation, can succeed in defining, within
the legal boundaries of its autonomy, its own
vision and policy, for the benefit of sustain-
able development. Clearly, such examples can
have a positive impact on the policy discus-
sions as a whole. They can become true pio-
neers of sustainable development in moun-
tain areas.
Elizabeth Byers
National and regional experience
A vision for development
“We the people of the Confederated
Tribes of Warm Springs, since time imme-
morial, carry forth the inherent rights of
sovereignty and spirituality through unity
and a respect for the land, water, each
other and the many gifts given by the
Creator.”
The People’s Plan, 1999
Putting tribal values at the centre
“In my work with the community over the past five years, I have learned
the importance of having our inherent tribal values be the heart of our
plans. I feel we need to be very selective in adopting non-tribal models,
laws, and policies. If models are adopted, we need to be sure they are
‘alignable’ with tribalism. This will be one of our biggest challenges, since
much of our governmental success was built upon non-tribal structures
and thinking. Professionally, I have had to learn the tribal thinking to
begin to distinguish the difference. I thank my tribal people for these les-
sons.”
(Jolene E. Atencio, planner and coordinator for the “The People’s Plan”
for Warm Springs, as well as an enrolled tribal member)
Below left: Young girl
prepares for traditional
celebration (powwow)
at the Warm Springs Indian
Reservation.
(D. McMechan)
Below right: First day
of school for tribal youth.
Three native languages
are taught in elementary
school, but all of them
are in danger of dying out.
The Kiksht (Wasco) and
the Numu (Paiute) only
have five fluent speakers
each, none of them
under the age of fifty.
(D. McMechan)
Below: Guests at the Kah-
Nee-Ta Resort can choose
to stay in an Indian teepee
as part of cultural heritage
tourism initiatives on the
Warm Springs Indian
Reservation.
(D. McMechan)
North America: Canada
Integrated Resource Management (IRM)
as a policy for public lands management
Most of the mountainous area of western North America consists of pub-
lic lands managed by government agencies. Several decades ago, the
provincial government of Alberta, Canada, adopted the “philosophy” of
Integrated Resource Management (IRM) for management of the many
valuable natural resources on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains.
Today, IRM continues with the same objectives: integration and sustain-
able development. But IRM strategies have evolved in order to make the
concept more effective.
IRM since 1977
The eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains
of Alberta, Canada, cover an area of roughly
90,000 km 2 of mountains and forested
foothills. The region supports forestry, oil and
gas development, mining, tourism and recre-
ation, and forms the headwaters of the
prairies’ major rivers.
The land is owned and managed by the
public sector, providing an opportunity to
manage land
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