National Plan

Environmental Impact Assessment

Public Participation

Political and Public Awareness

Land and Resources Planning

Economic Evaluation of Environmental Issues

Human Resources Capacities

Limited Financial Resource

National Plan

Issue

The limited analysis of environmental and social issues being conducted during the preparation of National Development plans.  Socio-economic plans and environmental action plans are often formulated independently.

Background

Co-ordination across ministries and agencies, crucial in NRE management, and integrated decision making, is very weak. Separate ministries/agencies with strong vested powers, not only have little or no incentive to work with other ministries/agencies but also have poor knowledge of NRE issues and limited understanding of their role in sustainable development.

The policy thrusts of economic development, poverty alleviation and long-term sustainability often compete in terms of objectives and for the limited funding. It is only at the national development plan level where these competing interests are addressed.

Thailand, for example, is trying to address these problems and has begun to change the development emphasis, to focus more on social, quality of life and sustainability, than the purely economic foci of previous development plans. The level of attention to NRE issues was first highlighted in Thailand’s Sixth National Development Plan (1988/92). The National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) further increased the level of importance of  NRE issues in the Seventh Plan (1993/97) and the current Eighth Plan (1998/2002). The Eighth Plan also recognizes the importance of involving NGOs and other stakeholder groups in the formulation of NRE policies and management programs and includes policies to strengthen the public participation process. Understanding Thailand’s experience will be beneficial to the rest of the GMS.

National planning capacities are generally lacking in key skills and experience to deal with the complex challenges now confronting them. While institutional and administrative reforms are on-going, the consideration of environmental and social factors in the preparation of development scenarios is lacking.

Separate ministries with strong vested interests do not appreciate fully the importance and urgency of NRE issues. Added to this is the lack of local authority over them. This makes it difficult to implement long-term solutions.

Key NRE issues in water, forestry and agriculture, and coastal resources, are discussed further below. It should be noted that each of the issues has economic implications which affect long-term economic and environmental sustainability