The world is reaching peaks of development and technological advancements. Many inventions make our lives easier and more comfortable. Yet, how much natural resources are being used to bring these comforts to our lives that are based on consumerism?  Can we benefit from this cycle forever?

For me I see that the need for clean air, clean drinking water, and land which is livable, will be of utmost importance. These are also subject to various conflicts in the future as all are interconnected. But is there a solution to manage such a situation? Can sustainable resource management be interwoven with local wisdom to maintain a balance that is fair for all? I decided to reflect on Sri Lanka and what the future holds for my country when it comes to land, water, and conflict.

In Sri Lanka, there are hardly any discussions on natural resources, their depletion and the management and sustainability. The protracted armed conflict that ended in 2009 took the attention from the poverty and natural resource management. But now it is time.

Sri Lanka has many resources for its survival but there is no proper management to sustain the usage. Since poverty is high in the rural areas and resources continue to be over-used or misused. The most contested issues at present are water and land. As the country has rich biodiversity due to its varied topography and climate, there are few reserved forest areas considered as protected areas. However, the forest areas are becoming less and less. In 1999, Sri Lanka's forest area was almost 44%, and by 2000, this decreased to 22% as areas are being cleared for settlements or for agricultural use. There are also illegal timber businesses in place. The issues of deforestation and water are intrinsically interconnected. Most of the communities in rural areas depend on groundwater for drinking while overall, the water resources for general use like agriculture, industry, and domestic use are drawn from rainfall. For the moment there is no marked scarcity in water, but issues needing attention are access to drinking water in urban areas and in the dry zones, the poor quality of water and contamination of water sources.

Water quality is an issue when it comes to urban and dry zone areas. Due to lack of urban planning in urban areas, there are sewerage systems that affect groundwater sources. Unmanaged garbage disposal systems are affecting water sources like rivers. In rural areas, the use of groundwater for drinking without maintaining proper sanitary facilities is creating health issues while agrochemical usage in these agriculturally sustainable rural areas also contributes to the problem.

But there is also very advanced traditional irrigation water systems that support the ecosystems in the agricultural areas in the country. There are smaller networks of such systems which help to sustain the water management systems. These are not being prioritized by the government when they are planning water management at the national level.

The above examples illustrate the presence of local ways of maintaining the systems, while national policies often neglect to look after their needs and ways of living. Thus, marginalized communities sometimes resort to unsustainable methods in using natural resources. In Sri Lanka, land management is important in the complexity of the ethnic diversity. Land laws are diverse as there are national and regional systems of law regarding land issues. After the war, there was much civilian displacement in the north and the east. Now that the government is doing the resettlement process for internally displaced persons, there are also claims that agricultural migration is also taking place amidst the resettlement process. Resolving these issues require resolving the conflicts in the legislation, as the binding laws vary from regional to national.

Can Sri Lanka find a way to manage these complex situations? In my opinion, both water and land issues need to be addressed holistically, yet must look at the interconnectedness of the issues. The government can talk about alleviating poverty, but not only according to the international development agency plans and standards. There needs to be respect given to the local stakeholders and their lifestyles (not just by lip service, but in policies and action). If we take for example the concepts of human development and human security, they are very important components in national and local development in a country. But the broad base of these concepts overlooks the importance of long-term natural resource management and poverty alleviation. Such concepts are more livelihood-focused approaches, as it is more economy based.

The government already has water management projects around the country. But these are always linear, either top-to-bottom approaches or bottom-to-top. This needs a change. The environment, the people, societies, natural resources are living organisms. There cannot be fixed methods like 15-year long term plans without having space for changes according to the situations faced during this period. My argument is that the current institutions and projects that are created to solve resource-based issues aggravate the problem than solving it. The division of ministries according to education, environment, planning, and economy is good for its own management. But if we need to resolve water and land issues, these sectors need to plan projects together and not only prioritizing the acceleration of economic growth in the country by letting the natural resources be overused. While combination and cross-sector planning is important, the local way of living (decentralized strategy), and the ways of ecosystem need to be respected in the planed project to resolve the issue. Structures of the planned projects need to be flexible. If we look at the water issue, rather than making nature adapt to our structure, it is wise to make a nation adapt to a natural system even though it is very difficult in this consumerist society. By, promoting such projects for preservation of water and useful land use at the decentralized level, the communities can adapt to such systems in the long term.

To make the rural agriculture community aware of water issues that they might be facing, there can be holistic projects targeting geographical areas where there are similar communities and similar issues. There are two main districts in Sri Lanka that share the border and with similar water issues: the Monaragala and Hambantota districts. Hambantota is a dry zone while Monaragala has a mixed climate. Both are facing water scarcity and poor drinking water quality. As agriculture-based communities, the solutions to these two areas need to prioritize this aspect. The water quality is affected due to sanitation habits of the communities, while the use of agrochemicals is also a major threat. There needs to be a gradual introduction of new methods or a re-introduction of traditional methods of agriculture. Education on water resources encompassing issues of water quality, scarcity, water-borne diseases, community-based agricultural methods, can create awareness and give them space to appreciate the positive aspects of their local ways, while understanding what kind of habits deteriorate their situation. But to design such projects, there needs to be multi-stakeholder participation and inclusive decision making.

This type of approach perhaps can help to understand how man-made structures and social systems need to be organic. It should complement with the ecology and the changes in the natural environment. Through the above case study about Sri Lanka, I was trying to apply a workable local solution to the natural resource issues in the country. But there are external factors beyond our control, which hamper even if such local mechanisms for resource management are in place.

Corporate economic development and the so-called "development" that development agencies put forward is mostly focused on short term development and not holistic in its planning. A "one-size fit-all" cannot be workable. If we take ideas like "human security," these have universally-accepted pillars in order to achieve it. But my point is according to the local community, these pillars change and there needs to be a holistic way of assessing without categorizing generally. For example, how is poverty measured? Does it consider that some people are happy to live without a television set, though they have the capacity to buy it? So these indicators are questionable as the idea of statistics may be convincing to some Western minds (and this includes West and East politicians as well), but the real life is different. I live in the city and migrated to the city for education purposes back in Sri Lanka. But, after all the experience in poorly planned, over-polluted cities, I'm convinced that I'd rather live in an area with lush greenery, good water resources, self-sustained food resources, great fresh air. It is a way to live that is healthier and compatible with nature and its organic ways.

Urban planning and population growth in the city are difficult to deal with. We are patching the problem with short-term solutions or we only look at the things within our power or authority that can be changed. But in this globalised world, environment and climate are also globalised than we thought. In order to deal with the current situation in many cities in developing countries, we need to take a radical stand. Perhaps democracy will not work, but communism or another system called ‘Environmentalism' or organic politics might. There is a need to reduce consumerism, but how can we do this with big multinational corporations in line and a minority of the world's elite is keeping the consumerism rolling? Media is good to share information, but it also contributes sometimes to the problem.

So will there be genuine, truthful and revealing stakeholders to respond to the issues that matter to the less fortunate? Now that the world is globalised, can the wealthy nations (who in my view have utilized resources for centuries in excess) who are living comfortable lives and who are not affected at all by climate change and even if affected can afford to avoid it to live long, be less consumerist and more considerate because media brought them the information about the sinking Kutubdia (an island off the coastal town of Cox's Bazar) in Bangladesh? Can international organizations like the United Nations be effective in policy changes with regard to corporations and their behavior change to minimize pollution?

Developing countries are not asking for outdated development methods. In Sri Lanka, development does create opportunities, but often are not sustainable, not holistic and do not go beyond the traditional definition of development. The need for better planning that allows the participation of local stakeholders and communities is crucial.

Ms B Ayodhya Krishani Amarajeewa is from Sri Lanka and is part of the student batch for SY2010-2011 and one of the Asia Leaders Program (ALP) scholars, pursuing her MA degree in Media, Peace, and Conflict at the University for Peace. ALP is a dual campus masters degree project, a shared initiative between The Nippon Foundation, University for Peace, and the Ateneo de Manila University. This is her reflection paper for the lecture that Pedro Walpole gave on Practices of Conflict Management in Asia focusing on natural resources and resource use, conflict, and management last 18 to 20 April 2011.