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4.	'Underlying Causes'
	Food Security. Biological Diversity. It seems many discussions in the international dialogue on how to achieve sustainable development are leading to a familiar conclusion: Deal with the underlying causes of environment and development problems, not just with symptoms and superficial solutions. The 'underlying causes' issue is heating up again as the international community prepares to take stock at the 'Rio+5' Forum next March in Brazil - five years after the Rio Earth Summit - and realizes not enough is being done. The world's forests are a case in point. To stop the ongoing degradation of tens of millions of hectares of forest each year, experts are saying improved forestry practices alone will not do. Pressures from outside the forestry sector - like agricultural expansion, lack of land tenure, vested interests, and government policies that allow natural resources to sell at fire-sale prices - are now considered the major reason for forest losses. The 'underlying causes' refrain can also be heard in contemporary discussions on attaining global food security. At the mid-November World Food Summit in Rome, for example, underlying causes of food insecurity figured prominently. The top recommendation for action involved eradicating poverty, building peace, and promoting the equal participation of women and men in decision-making - well beyond the normal call for increased agricultural productivity. Addressing underlying causes involves at least two elements: action at the local and national levels, and integrated, not segregated, approaches. The need for local and national action was highlighted at the recent IUCN World Conservation Congress in Montreal, where protecting biological riches was seen as unlikely unless local communities share in decisions and benefit from sustainable use. The second element, integrated management, is also receiving new emphasis at all levels. On the international level, for example delegates at many UN negotiations on environment and development related themes, are finding themselves frustrated by an inability to make decisions that go beyond the purview of their own specialized disciplines or departments. Ultimately, many agree, solutions need to be developed across a number of sectors and the decision-making process has to have teeth, not just gums.[when sustainability requires broad-based political or structural change]
	underlying causes n. a hot buzz-phrase in international environment and development circles signaling renewed recognition that sustainable solutions sometimes require difficult structural and political change. Rio+5 n. a global campaign by leading civil society and business organizations to assess and advance progress towards sustainable development in advance of the Rio+5 Forum to be held in Rio de Janiero March 13-19, 1997.
	Roberts, Brian. The Quest for Sustainable Agriculture and Land Use. Sydney, Australia: University of New South Wales Press Ltd., 1995. 245 p.
Virtual Ideas	Update yourself on the state of the global forest debate World Food Summit Site