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In our modern world, our ecosystems are often threatened by both natural and human factors. The recent rise of global warming, the new industrialisation of BRICs and LDC, the rise of demand for common goods and the increasing urbanisation have been threatening biodiversity everywhere across the globe. It is therefore important to protect and conserve our ecosystems, but attitudes towards conservation vary depending of the level of development of specific countries. The reality of conservation and ecosystem degradation is complex.

In LDCs, the state of ecosystems can be high in specific regions. The lack of development near pristine systems in which indigenous people live is able to leave ecosystems intact. This shows that for such communities it is natural to protect the nature from which they primarily depend on. The Udzungwa Mountains National Park in the East Africa are an example of how governments have been able to cooperate with rural communities in order to ensure the conservation of pristine areas through a bottom up approach.

LEDC’s are often subject to sustainable development projects induced by IGOs and NGOs such as the UN and the World Bank. These sustainable development projects allow the small-scale economic prosperity of African communities and teach them ways to adapt their development to the need of protecting the ecosystems. This however can present both good and bad effects depending of the government’s ability to manage resources. The success experienced in Tanzania with the Udzungwa Mountains was not the same as the Masai Mara reserve. The Masai Mara reserve has had difficulties to protect the Kenyan grassland ecosystem, which was subject to severe degradation due to mismanagement of economic resources.  The money never reached the park rangers, the equipment needed, vehicles and radios that should have been used. This shows that in less developed country, corruption in politics plays a key role for the management of resources. What can be seen by the Masai Mara reserve is that in LDC’s land can be overused and exploited for agriculture and grazing, causing soil erosion and decline of grassland ecosystems.

LEDC’s have however also been pioneers in ecosystem conservation. The CAMPFIRE project was a very important scheme in the 80’s in Zimbabwe that aimed to long term, sustainable and responsible management of natural resources. This scheme allowed people to benefit from conservation thanks to increasing tourism and more reliable subsistence farming and hunt. The scheme however failed after the collapse of Zimbabwe government with many staff and funding cut.

In NICs and BRIC countries the conservation of ecosystems if very controversial. These countries have experienced massive economic growth due to their industrial success. This industrial success, which has benefit globalisation as well, has heavily affected many ecosystems. Brazil is the perfect example; in recent years, their industrialisation has brought them to deforest vast amount of the Amazon Rainforest for timber and agriculture, this raised concern of international communities and intervention of NGOs such as the WWF. Similarly, to Brazil, China and India are responsible for vast amount of CO2 emissions and water pollutions that has affected local ecosystems to decline increasingly. Their economic development is not reinvested in ecosystem conservation because their growth depends on the exploitation of natural resources, and the negative effect on environment is inevitable. China, India and Russia have not taken part in the Kyoto Protocol and have not pledged to cut down CO2 emission; this proves that due to their economic growth they are the least interested in ecosystem conservation.

MDCs have a changed attitude towards this topic. They have progressed from industrialisation time before present NICs and therefore this has given them time to develop eco-friendly consciousness. More developed countries are able to invest in new technologies due to their economic wealth and their resources can be used to manage more responsible national parks and reserves unlike LEDCs. However, their human impact and pollution has had severe impacts on ecosystems. Many MDCs are responsible for the decline of coral reefs, but their financial capabilities have been able to fund research and education in order to protect existing coral reefs and revive declining ones.

To conclude, the economic development of a country is crucial for the funding of stable and reliable conservation schemes. The attitude of conservation depends not solely on the level of development, but rather to the dedication of the communities and governments to protect ecosystems. In LDCs, the attitude towards ecosystem conservation has been positive, but unstable and subject to mismanagement of resources, whereas in NICs and BRICs there is a lack of will to conserve ecosystems because it can slow down their growth.

Image reference: https://www.kilimacamp.com/