Protecting Natural Resources: A Regional Project for Asia

August 13-18, 2015

About East Asia and the Pacific

East Asia's natural resources include some of the richest and most diverse. Natural resources have been negatively impacted by rapid economic development and poor management. There are over 60 million hectares of tropical forests sprawled throughout East Asia which play a crucial role in combating global warming. However, the deforestation rate sits high at about 3.7 million hectares per year, which has largely contributed to the environmental degradation [2]. The natural resources extracted, such as aluminum, old, tin, coal and other minerals are an important part of the economy [3]. Areas in the Pacific have taken initiative to look becoming proactive in the protection of their resources by joining WAVES and SEEA, systems for managing and accounting for ecosystem services [1]. Although the economy is booming, it is often at the environment's expense, non-sustainable use of natural resources could be a threat to both the economy and the environment in the long run.

About the Program

The IVLP is a professional exchange program that seeks to build mutual understanding between the U.S. and other nations through carefully designed short-term visits to the U.S. for current and emerging foreign leaders. Over the last 70 years, the IVLP has developed into the premier professional exchange program in the U.S. and brings over 200 emerging leaders to Jacksonville every year.

[1] http://blogs.worldbank.org/eastasiapacific/natural-capital-accounting-balancing-ecological-protection-economic-growth

[2] http://www.eastasiaforum.org/2013/02/16/scaling-up-efforts-to-sustain-forests-in-southeast-asia/

[3] http://nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/asia-resources/