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Issues in Social Policy
OUR PEOPLE, OUR RESOURCES
supporting rural communities in participatory action research on population dynamics and the local environment
written by
Thomas Barton, Grazia Borrini-Feyerabend, Alex de Sherbinin and Patrizio Warren
with contributions from IUCN staff, members and partners
IUCN - The World Conservation Union, 1997
Disclaimer and publication details
The designation of geographical entities in this book, and the presentation of the
material, do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of IUCN or
UNFPA concerning the legal status of any country, territory, or area, or of its
authorities, or concerning the definition of its frontiers or boundaries.
The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect those of IUCN or
UNFPA.
This publication has been made possible by special funding from UNFPA and funding
of general social policy activities in IUCN by DANIDA (Danish International
Development Agency).
Published by: IUCN Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK
Copyright: ©1997 International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural
Resources
Reproduction of this publication for educational or other non-commercial
purposes is authorized without permission from the copyright holders, provided the
source is fully acknowledged.
Reproduction of this publication for resale or other commercial purposes is
prohibited without the prior written permission of the copyright holders.
Citation: Barton, T., Borrini-Feyerabend, G., de Sherbinin, A. and P. Warren
(1997). Our People, Our Resources, IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK. ISBN: 2-8317-0389-1
Cover photograph: Grazia Borrini-Feyerabend. Picture from Pallisa District, Uganda.
Inside photographs: Grazia Borrini-Feyerabend. Pictures from Uganda, Costa Rica,
Pakistan, Cameroon, Ecuador and Myanmar.
Drawings by: Fabrizio Prati
Layout by: appi - atelier pré-presse et impression, Gland, Switzerland
Printed by: appi - atelier pré-presse et impression, Gland, Switzerland
Available from:
IUCN Publications Services Unit< 219c Huntingdon Road
Cambridge CB3 0DL
United Kingdom
Tel. +44 1223 277 894
Fax. +44 1223 277 175
e-mail: iucn-psu@wcmc.org.uk
The text of the printed book is printed on chlorine-free paper.
Acknowledgements
To our favorite teachers, in particular
Sheldon Margen and Gayl Ness
The publication of this handbook brings to fruition a three-year process that has seen
contributions from IUCN staff, members and partners in over twenty countries, as well
as from rural people around the world who have generously shared their experiences
with the authors. The process began in 1994, when a manu-script produced by the
Social Policy Group was sent to several field-based professionals with expertise in
participatory methods and 'population and environment' issues. The comments and
contributions received from these professionals were incorporated into a new
manuscript, which was then translated into three languages and sent out for comments
to a much larger list of potential users all over the world. Their comments have also
been incorporated in the present version.
The authors are particularly grateful to the following people for insightful, extensive
contributions during the earlier and later reviews: Tariq Banuri, Corinne Cécilia, A.B.
Cunningham, Elijah Yaw Danso, Dulan de Silva, Jenny Ericson, Lisa Garbus, Andrew
Green, Alan Hamilton, Henk Hoefsloot, Serguey Ivanov, Charity Kabutha, Patricia
Larson, Ciro Martínez Gómez, Augusto Angel Maya, Gayl Ness, Krishna Oli, Joséphine
Ouédraogo, Badri Pande, Mario Alejandro Perez, Adrian Phillips, M. Pudasaini,
Mohammad Rafiq, Marcos Reigota, Kath Shurcliff, Yacouba Yaro, and Nicholas Winer.
In addition, the authors would like to express their appreciation to Charlie Pye-Smith,
who enlivened the Pallisa stories in the text, and to IUCN staff members Susan
Broomfield, Meghan Golay, Katharine Mann and Elaine Shaughnessy, who assisted
with graphic, publishing and secretarial skills.
The IUCN Social Policy Group sincerely acknowledges the UNFPA's generous
financial support for the preparation of this handbook and its companion volume,
Population and Strategies for National Sustainable Development (Ness, 1997). Through
the University of Michigan Population-Environment Fellows Program, USAID
supported the work of John Williams, a major contributor to the initial manu-script, and
Alex de Sherbinin, one of the authors. UNFPA, USAID and the University of Michigan
have shown an exceptional readiness to further the integration of population variables
into environmental planning, management and action. An expanded print-run of this
handbook was made possible through the support of UNICEF's Water, Environment
and Sanitation Division and a USAID-funded sub-agreement with the Population
Reference Bureau. The IUCN Social Policy Group would also like to thank DANIDA,
the Danish International Development Agency, for its continued financial support to
integrate social concerns in IUCN initiatives.
The present handbook is the result of a long process and involves numerous
contributions and insights. It aims to stimulate thinking and questioning, rather than providing rigid guidelines, and
it is offered as a tool for 'learning by doing'. In view of these characteristics, we hope
that field-based population and conservation professionals will actually use this
document in their daily work. Ultimately, it is the authors' sincere hope that Our People,
Our Resources will support decisions and actions on population and environment matters in rural communities throughout the world - where those decisions and actions
truly belong.
Thomas Barton, Grazia Borrini-Feyerabend, Alex de Sherbinin and Patrizio Warren
September 1997
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