Population growth

This guide serves as a resource for policy makers and staff of conservation and population organizations who wish to integrate population dynamics into environmental planning for sustainable development. It presents the basic rationale for linking population and environmental issues, including the demonstrable impact that population dymanics and rising consumption are having on the environment.

Sir Martin Holdgate, former IUCN Director General, was a principal author of both the "World conservation strategy" and "Caring for the earth". In this book, he brings his unrivalled experience to the task of reviewing progress to date and examining what now needs to be done. He argues that we must work for change at every level, from our understanding of our place in relation to nature and the values we put on it, up to a reformed economic structure and new social institutions.

The eight technical papers emphasise what is needed as the development process unfolds; models for sustainable resource use; for the community participation in discussions; legal reforms concerning the environment and human rights; and the continuing adjustment of policies and actions.