Environmental Justice Essay

Environmental Justice
Support the position that a clean environment is a basic human right. How can this be achieved? What is environmental justice? Environmental justice has been defined as the pursuit of equal justice and equal protection under the law for all environmental statutes and regulations without discrimination based on race, ethnicity, and/or socioeconomic status. Environmental justice refers to the conditions in which such a right can be freely exercised, whereby individual and group identities, needs, and dignities are preserved, fulfilled, and respected in a way that provides for self-actualization and personal and community empowerment. (NRE 392 Course packs (Welsch). Winter 1997). “A healthy environment is a one of the key

It also produces the basis for economically significant tourism. In Bhutan most of the people depend on these biological products. The wild species are also of great importance. In Bhutan, 74 percent of land is covered by forest and the people are depended on the forest and they are benefited with plenty of resources. They get timber from the forest to make different things they desire to have and to furnish their house. They also get non-timber products such as mushrooms, bamboos, medicinal plants and local handicrafts which in a hand promote our unique cultural values and on the other hand it contributes to the economic growth since there is a growing demand for these non-timber forest products with fairly attractive prices. Bhutan has a beautiful nature which can attract foreigners or tourists. The tourism is becoming increasingly popular everywhere but Bhutan has a potential to benefit from this market because of its natural environment with different species of animals and plants and also because of unique culture styles. This benefit will encourage the society to conserve the

There is a growing demand for ecological nature-based products offering attractive prices mainly in industrialized countries. The rich forests of Bhutan will provide a wide range of these NTFPs with benefits to both conservation and development efforts. NTFPs can be managed sustainably by the local people under the Community-Based Natural Resource Management Programme (CBNRM). The CBNRM is becoming a popular concept and mechanism to manage natural resources such as NTFPs in Bhutan. CBNRM would enhance the rural economy while natural resources are conserved, managed and marketed through community empowerment and participation. Research initiatives such as bringing chirata (Swertia chirata), masutake (Tricholoma masutake) and Cordyceps sinenis under CBNRM initiatives are underway. Community-based management and product development are under consideration for other important NTFPs such as bamboo, lemon grass, pasture grazing and water through rural enterprises