War beckons wherever forests are plundered
The loss of clean air, water and resources poses a security threat to Australia, writes John
Benson
Sydney Morning Herald, Copyright 2000
November 27, 2000
By John Benson
The recent outbreak of violence between Palestinians and Israelis coincided with the opening of the World Conservation Union's second World Conservation Congress in nearby Amman, Jordan. A poignant coincidence given that the congress theme was "Environment and Security". Seated in the old Roman theatre of Amman (ancient Philadelphia), more than 2,000 delegates from 150 countries heard the conservation union's patron, Jordan's Queen Noor, bluntly warn that "the next war in the Middle East will be over water".
Wars don't just threaten people - they can lead to major environmental destruction.
We know that the world is rapidly using its natural resources - timber, oil, clean water, clean air and soil - because of a combination of high consumption rates in wealthy nations and burgeoning human populations. Erhlich's 1969 Population Bomb hypothesis may not have been wrong; it may just have underestimated the ingenuity of humans to produce more food. However, you can't grow food without soil and healthy ecosystems. If these are lost, Erhlich's predictions may well eventuate. And if natural resource degradation leads to conflict it will threaten national and international security.
At the congress James Gasana, a former minister for defence in Rwanda, outlined how, during the 1980s, an imbalance in agricultural land distribution between the Hutu and Tutsi tribes led to the carnage a decade later when more than half a million people were killed.
Closer to home, Chip Barber, from the World Resources Institute, presented a stunning account of the destruction of Indonesian forests and the impact of this on Indonesia's security. Barber claims many of Indonesia's conflicts are over the use of forest resources, not just race, culture or religion.
The mega-diverse forests of Indonesia contain 10 per cent of the world's plants, 17 per cent of the world's reptiles and birds, and 12 per cent of the world's mammals. Up to 30 million people depend on the forests for their survival, using them for food, shelter, medicines and timber. However, 1.7 million hectares of the forests are being destroyed annually through logging, burning and clearing.
Violent conflict has erupted in parts of Indonesia between the state, logging companies and local communities over forest resources and logging concessions, many of which were issued to close allies of the Soeharto regime. Conflict is escalating between local communities over poaching logs. Illegal logging is widespread; it accounted for 70 per cent (57 million cubic metres) of log production in 1998. And some of this has encroached into national parks. Some of the shocking forest fires of recent years were lit as a weapon in these local conflicts. After deforestation, palm oil plantations are often established but poor relations between local communities and plantation companies have often led to conflict.
So a history of cronyism, of resource allocation and mismanagement of Indonesia's magnificent forests has led to many conflicts that threaten the security of the region.
But what about Australia? Is it feasible that our security could be threatened by environmental decline? Well, who knows what another few decades of land degradation would bring? Salinity threatens more than 7 million hectares of agricultural land and is already damaging roads and buildings in country towns. There is disagreement within Australian society over issues such as vegetation clearing and greenhouse emissions. Let's hope that the recent announcement by Australian governments to spend $1.4 billion on curbing salinity will alleviate this situation.
If Australia were to lose the capacity to produce enough basic food to feed itself because of environmental degradation, there would be security implications. It might alter our balance of payments and make us more vulnerable during times of war. This scenario, however, is unlikely in the near future. Much more likely are external threats to Australia's security caused by the environmental degradation of natural resources in Asia and South-East Asia. For example, the combination of continued population growth, an El Nino-induced drought, further loss of forest cover, soil erosion and river sedimentation could lead to a famine in Indonesia.
This may result, not in a military threat, but in waves of refugees reaching Australia's shores. Surely this scenario should be foremost in the thinking of our defence and security strategic analysts. An effective way of minimising this external threat would be to direct a larger proportion of Australia's foreign aid to these countries towards the issues of family planning, natural resource management and establishing institutional structures that lead to open and fair government.
In a talk I gave at the congress on managing Australia's vast range lands, I showed photographs of cleared woodlands in Queensland. I was queried about why a First World nation such as Australia, with its wealth, its educated society and its strong environmental laws, was allowing 500,000 hectares of woodlands and forests to be cleared every year, in light of its salinity problems and biodiversity losses. How could this set an example to Third World nations?
I explained that positive action is happening in Australia - with improved data and planning, increased government funding, land care, more awareness in rural communities, improved regulations and some (but not enough) incentives.
I suspect, however, that while our economic accounting externalises the value of natural assets such as clean air and water, biodiversity and native vegetation, it will be difficult to reverse environmental decline. Society should place a great emphasis on protecting our "common wealth", that is the natural environment. If that is not forthcoming, then continued environmental decline within and outside Australia will lead to a deterioration of the nation's national security.
John Benson is senior plant ecologist at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney.