This is an archived USAID document retained on this web site as a matter of public record.

Oral Testimony By Carl H. Leonard,
Deputy Assistant Administrator
Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean

I. Introduction

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for inviting me to speak on environmental problems in Latin America and the Caribbean. I would like to emphasize three points:

First, environmental degradation in the LAC region is severe and has serious consequences for both the people of the region and the United States.

Second, USAID environmental programs are having a positive and significant impact, but the dimensions of the problem are well beyond the resources of any individual donor, and

Third, poverty and environmental degradation are interrelated and interdependent-poverty is one of the major forces driving environmental degradation, while sound natural resource management is essential for reducing poverty and ensuring future prosperity.

I request that my full written statement be included in the record.

In the past decade, the countries of the region have significantly advanced the well being of their citizens. People are better educated and healthier, economic reforms have spurred more robust growth, and democracy has been embraced in most countries. We are encouraged by this progress, but major challenges remain.

Severe degradation of the region's environment and natural resource base is one of the most serious challenges. Most alarming, the degradation is accelerating. The environmental services and resources upon which economic prosperity, health, security, and stability depend are being destroyed. This environmental destruction cannot be viewed in isolation. From my current perspective and from my experience as USAID Mission Director in Costa Rica, Bolivia, and El Salvador, I firmly believe that to safeguard progress and advance prosperity, sound environmental management must be a high priority within the region's broader development agenda.

The LAC region is blessed with an extraordinarily rich natural resource base. However, this fortune can mask the severity of the environmental crisis.

II. Examples of Environmental Degradation

For example, LAC has half of the world's tropical forests, but also one of the world's highest rates of deforestation. The region lost more than 210 million acres of forest between 1980 and 1995. Brazil, the country with the greatest amount of tropical forest in the world, loses more than one percent annually, or an area four times that of Rhode Island.

Of particular concern, countries with the least amount of remaining forests have some of the highest deforestation rates. At these rates, some countries will loose their remaining forest within the next 10-20 years.

Similarly, the region is blessed with more freshwater per capita than any other region of the world, but during the past fifty years it has suffered the greatest decrease per capita. The principal culprits are poor watershed management, misuse of agricultural inputs, the overdrawing of aquifers, and the lack of wastewater treatment.

The region's marine and coastal resources include the second longest reef in the world, and extensive mangroves and estuaries. These resources harbor globally important biological diversity, support fisheries and tourism, buffer coastal communities against storm damage, and are at the core of some countries' economies. However, siltation, pesticides, and wastewater are smothering the region's reefs. Scientists categorize the survival of two-thirds of the reefs as threatened or highly threatened.

Rapid urbanization, fueled in large part by immigration from rural areas, is magnifying cities' already severe environmental problems. Conditions are particularly severe in shantytowns where almost half of city residents live, where the greatest growth is taking place, and where raw sewage and solid waste are dumped directly into the environment. More than ninety percent of LAC's urban and industrial wastewater is released to the environment untreated.

None of the numerous examples illustrates the impact of resource mismanagement more clearly than Hurricane Mitch. To describe Mitch as a "natural disaster" is a misnomer. Nature provides the physical phenomena; people produce the vulnerability through the resource-use decisions we make. It is the combination of the two that leads to disasters.

Mitch left more than nine thousand dead, three million people homeless, and $8 billion in direct damages. Experts attribute seventy percent of the damage to poor land-use decisions. The message is clear -- ignoring sound environmental practices imperils development.

Environmental degradation in the LAC region directly affects the United States. Some impacts are immediately noticeable, for example, the 1998 fires in Mexico and Central America that fouled the air of the southern United States. The impacts of habitat degradation are less immediate but profound -- including sharp reductions in populations of migratory birds and important marine species.

Environmental degradation can also lead to human flight. The 1999 report of the International Red Cross concluded that the number of people displaced by environmental degradation outstrips the number displaced by political unrest and war. Environmental degradation contributes significantly to immigration pressures.

The most severely affected by environmental degradation are the poor who live in the most vulnerable environments, often squatting on marginalized areas, which maximizes their exposure to disasters. The poor also lack access to clean water and sanitation, and often are forced to meet their needs through environmentally destructive practices such as the clear cutting of steep slopes for firewood, and slash-and-burn agriculture. Consequently, the poor are the greatest victims of environmental degradation, but poverty is one of the most significant forces driving degradation.

Rapid population growth makes the challenge more difficult. Although growth rates have dropped, population levels have not yet stabilized. Meeting the needs of a growing population places greater demands on the environment.

III. USAID Programs

Recognizing that improved resource management is essential to reduce poverty and foster prosperity, USAID follows four principles in designing our environmental programs:

1. We develop and disseminate environmentally sound practices that ensure economic returns competitive with or superior to current wasteful practices;
2. We engage and empower local communities and individuals, for community action makes government more responsive, and individual ownership and tenure provide motivation for stewardship;
3. We increase public awareness about the consequences of, and alternatives to, degradation; and
4. We promote policy reforms that direct market forces toward sustainable use.

Our environment program in the region totals approximately $65 million each year. I would like to summarize a few examples.

USAID supports sustainable tropical forest management through policy reform, capacity building, introduction of sustainable forestry practices, and business/market development. In Bolivia, the USAID program successfully strengthened the technical capacity of community groups, and fostered partnerships with industry. The area of tropical forests certified as well managed has increased fifteen-fold from 128,000 acres to two million acres. Exports of eco-certified timber have increased from zero to nearly $8 million annually. We are supporting similar programs in Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Honduras, and Guatemala.

In Honduras, USAID's Land Use and Productivity Enhancement project (LUPE) improved hillside agriculture practices. Thirty-eight thousand hillside farm families adopted environmentally sustainable cultivation practices. As a result, soil erosion losses on steep slopes were reduced from thirty-seven tons per acre to less than half a ton, saving an estimated five million tons of topsoil annually. Farmers increased their income by more than fifty percent.

LUPE's effectiveness was vividly demonstrated during Hurricane Mitch. Although soil erosion and landslides destroyed many farms, adjacent LUPE sites withstood the ravages of the storm. The LUPE approach has been adopted and spread by Central American governments and donors in their commitment to "build back better" after Mitch.

USAID is a leader in assisting LAC countries to conserve and utilize their biological resources in a sustainable manner. Our programs have improved protected-areas management, safeguarded key watersheds, strengthened local NGOs and community groups, assisted indigenous communities to secure land-tenure, and provided environmentally sound economic alternatives. For example, the Parks in Peril program - our partnership with the Nature Conservancy, local NGOs and municipalities - builds local capacity to conserve biological diversity. The program has improved protection at thirty-seven park sites covering over twenty-eight million acres.

Industrial pollution impairs human health and degrades economically important ecosystems. We have demonstrated that reducing pollution while enhancing business performance is a win/win approach. Our pilot projects have introduced pollution-prevention technologies that reduce the consumption of water, energy, and raw materials, and thus improve efficiency and reduce costs.

IV. Partnership with others

Because the challenge is beyond the means of any one actor, partnerships are essential. Accordingly,

1. We build local capacity and commitment so programs will continue and have the opportunity to expand and engage the resources and creativity of the host country.
2. We develop models that others adopt. Practical, simple, and culturally appropriate models have the best opportunity for being disseminated.
3. We form partnerships with NGOs, Universities, and other Federal Agencies. These institutions are the source of extensive technical expertise and commitment, which we complement with our international development experience and in-country knowledge.
4. We encourage the "greening" of private investment. Private investment in the region now far exceeds donor assistance; and
5. We coordinate closely with the Multilateral Development Banks and other donors. USAID provides grant resources that host countries and International Financial Institutions frequently lack for doing the analyses and pilot activities needed for the design of larger loan programs. Coordination among donors can also encourage developing countries to adopt the reforms necessary for sound development.

V. Conclusion

In conclusion, environmental degradation threatens sustained social and economic progress in our hemisphere.

Environment remains a key element in our overall development strategy. We will continue to implement and build upon the successful approaches outlined above to improve environmental management, conserve biodiversity, alleviate poverty and ensure future prosperity.

Finally, we greatly appreciate the interest of this Subcommittee in environmental and development issues and look forward to working with you. Thank you for the opportunity to present our views.

This is an archived USAID document retained on this web site as a matter of public record.

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