This course reviews the environmental issues facing contemporary Ecuador in the context of a transforming global reality. We analyze the theoretical perspectives that constitute the fields of Political Ecology, Environmental Anthropology and Environmental Sociology. Then we look at specific environmental issues that are of concern for Ecuador and the Region including, the oil industry and indigenous communities in the Amazon Basin, aquaculture and shrimp farming, introduce species, large scale ranching and deforestation, fisheries and the management of fragile marine ecosystems such as the Galapagos. We will analyze the possible solutions that will include taking into account political and ecological pressures, perspectives of indigenous populations, environmentalists, the governments, NGOs and international investors and multinational companies.
Method of presentation:
Lectures combined with class discussion.
Required work and form of assessment:
Weekly assigned readings; two class presentations; two term papers; attendance is mandatory.
Final grades are based on:
Two class presentations (10% each)
Two term papers (15% each)
Mid-term exam (20%)
Final exam (30%).
content:
Introduction to Ecology, Environment and Sustainable Development
Belsky; Barrett.
From Environment to Sustainable Development.
Sachs; Weizsacker; Weizsacker; The World Bank: Chapter 1.
From Environment to Sustainable Development II
Clark; Watson el. al.
Ecuador: The socio-economic and political context
UNDP Summary
The Local Environmental Issues: The Amazon Bain and National Politics
Amazonia: Democracy, Ecology, and Brazilian Military Prerogatives in the 1990s. Frontier Expansion in the Amazon: Balancing Development and Sustainability. Redford, Kent and Allyn Maclean.
The Local Environment Issues Oil and Indigenous People
Martin, Pamela, Chapter 3 and 4.
The Local Environmental Issues: The Galapagos.
Ruttemberg, Benjamin; Gravez, Vincent.
The Local Environmental Issues: Shrimp Farming and Deforestation.
Marine Shrimp Farming in the Western Hemisphere: Past Problems, Present Solutions, and Future Visions.
The local environmental issues: natural reserves and introduced species
UNESCO. Munasinghe et al.
The local environmental issues: biodiversity and biopiracy
Dutfield, Graham. Shiva et al.
Perverse policies and new policy approaches for “development”: case studies
The World Bank. Chapters 2 and 3.
Is the environment a competitive edge for investors? The new linkages between the corporate sector and the environment.
Porter et al. Hart, Stuart.
Environment, globalization and trade, a view from developing countries
Daly, Herman. Vaughan, Scott.
New approaches to sustainable development. Conclusions and Recommendations.
Sen, Amartya. Introduction, Chapters 1 and 2
Required readings:
Barrett, Gary W. and Eugene P. Odumuch. The Twenty-First Century: The World at Carrying Capacity.
Belsky, Jill M. Beyond the Natural Resource and Environmental Sociology Divide: Insights from a Transdisciplinary Perspective.
Burke, Pamela. Transnational Advocacy Networks in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Chapter 4.
Clark, William C. A. Transition Toward Sustainability.
Daly, Herman. Free Trade: the Perils of Deregulation.
Dutfield, Graham. What is Biopiracy?
Gravez, Vincent. Report of the Present Conditions of the Fishing Sector of Isabela (Galapagos).
Hart, Stuart. The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid.
Jeffrey, Kent. Rescuing the Oceans.
Kottak, Conrad. The New Ecological Anthropology.
Martin Pamela, The Globalization of Contentious Politics: The Amazonian Indigenous Rights Movement.
Munasinghe, Mohan and Jeffrey McNeely. An Introduction to Protected Area Economics and Policy.
Oviedo, Paola. The Galapagos Islands: Conflict Management in Conservation and Natural Resource Management.
Porter, Michael, Class van der Linde. Toward a New Conception of the Environment-Competitiveness Relationship.
Redford, Kent and Allyn MacLean. Forest-Dwelling Native Amazonians and the Conservation of Biodiversity.
Ruttemberg, Benjamin. Effects of Artisanal Fishing on Communities in the Galapagos.
Sachs, Wolfgan. “Global Ecology and the Shadow of Development.” Wolfan Sachs Development Dictionary.
Sen, Amartya. Development as Freedom. Introduction, Chapters 1 and 2.
Shina, Vandana. “The Greening of Global Reach.” Wolfan Sachs Development Dictionary. Shiva, Vandana and Radha Holla-Bhar. Piracy by Patent.
The World Bank. Five Years after Rio: Innovations in Environmental Policy. Chapters 1-3.
UNDP Summary. Human Development Report 2004: Ecuador.
UNESCO. Alien and Invasive Species in Biosphere Reserves: Galapagos.
Watson, Robert, John Dixon, Steven Hamburg, Anthony Janetos and Richard Moss. Protecting Our Planet Securing Our Future. Chapters 1 and 2. UNEP-NASA-The World Bank, 1998.
Weizsacker, Chritine. “Competing Notions of Biodiversity.” Wolfan Sachs Development Dictionary.
Vaughan, Scott. Trade Preferences and Environmental Goods.
Recommended readings:
Southgate, Douglas, Morris Whitaker and Fernando Ortiz. Environment and Development, Policy Crisis in Ecuador. Idea, 1994
Inter-American Development Bank. Development Beyond Economics: Economic and Social Progress in Latin America. The John Hopkins University Press, 2000.
Watson, Robert, John Dixon, Steven Hamburg, Anthony Janetos and Richard Moss. Protecting Our Planet Securing Our Future. UNEP-NASA-The World Bank, 1998.
Environmental Issues: Conservation And Public Policy In Ecuador
This course reviews the environmental issues facing contemporary Ecuador in the context of a transforming global reality. We analyze the theoretical perspectives that constitute the fields of Political Ecology, Environmental Anthropology and Environmental Sociology. Then we look at specific environmental issues that are of concern for Ecuador and the Region including, the oil industry and indigenous communities in the Amazon Basin, aquaculture and shrimp farming, introduce species, large scale ranching and deforestation, fisheries and the management of fragile marine ecosystems such as the Galapagos. We will analyze the possible solutions that will include taking into account political and ecological pressures, perspectives of indigenous populations, environmentalists, the governments, NGOs and international investors and multinational companies.
Lectures combined with class discussion.
Weekly assigned readings; two class presentations; two term papers; attendance is mandatory.
Final grades are based on:
Introduction to Ecology, Environment and Sustainable Development
From Environment to Sustainable Development.
From Environment to Sustainable Development II
Ecuador: The socio-economic and political context
The Local Environmental Issues: The Amazon Bain and National Politics
The Local Environment Issues Oil and Indigenous People
The Local Environmental Issues: The Galapagos.
The Local Environmental Issues: Shrimp Farming and Deforestation.
The local environmental issues: natural reserves and introduced species
The local environmental issues: biodiversity and biopiracy
Perverse policies and new policy approaches for “development”: case studies
Is the environment a competitive edge for investors? The new linkages between the corporate sector and the environment.
Environment, globalization and trade, a view from developing countries
New approaches to sustainable development. Conclusions and Recommendations.