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p. 1 of 57 BACK | NEXT I. The Changing Environment Economic Transformation State of the Environment in the Region Counting the Toll Looking Ahead II. Driving Forces of Change III. Options and Opportunities IV. Toward Policy Integration V. Call to Action

Asian Environment Outlook 2001

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I. The Changing Environment

Economic change has been supported in part by the region’s natural resource base, both as a source of material inputs and a sink for pollution and other negative outputs from economic activity.

The Asia and Pacific region is rich in natural resources. The forests, rivers, lakes, wetlands, coral reefs, and other ecosystems in the region are biological powerhouses. The region includes the second largest rain forest complex, more than half of the world’s coral reefs, and about 17 percent of the most important wetland areas in the world. This rich habitat is home to much of the planet’s biological diversity. Of the 12 “megadiverse” countries identified, four are in the Asia and Pacific region: Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, and People’s Republic of China (PRC) (McNeeley and others 1990). The region’s rivers, coastal and marine fisheries, mangroves, and coral reefs are among the most diverse and productive in the world. Southeast Asia is also the hub of diversity for wild and domestic cereal and fruit species (ASEAN 1997). The tropical moist forests in Southeast Asia host 20-25 percent of the earth’s plant species and the greatest variety of animals. The true value of this biological diversity defies conventional methods of quantification. The region’s ecosystems provide services that range from the maintenance of global biogeochemical cycles, to sources of export revenue, and sources of food and income for the poor.

This chapter discusses the economic transformation in the region and its environmental and social impacts, the current state of the environment, the toll of environmental problems on the people and economy of the region, and a look at future problems.

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