Sustainable Environments and Livelihoods

Below, Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka answers the second of our three questions.

The problems I see as ripe for cross-disciplinary research are those where multidisciplinary approaches have potential to promote sustainable development alongside sustainable environments in developing countries, because even in the developed world, conservation and development are seen as competing forces, yet have even greater potential in the developed world. The fields I would choose to combine are those that independently affect sustainable environments and livelihoods. These include population, health, environment (including climate change), culture, gender, tourism, agriculture, and information and communication technology (ICT). Some of the research questions I would pose focus around the debate of bringing more services around protected areas to reduce the dependence on natural resources, such as fuel wood from the forest. Some would argue that this would eventually compromise wildlife conservation because more people would migrate to the protected area to benefit from these services, putting other pressures on the environment related to infrastructure, such as population density, roads, and generators, creating further human and wildlife conflict, potential contamination of forest water sources, and driving away the wildlife. This becomes even more crucial to address when the improved services are related to the ecotourism industry dependent on viable wildlife populations.

Examples of these questions are:

1. What are the socioeconomic and environmental impacts of bringing tourism to rural areas?
2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of habituating more gorillas for tourism?
3. When tourism habituated gorillas raid a farmer's garden, who should pay for the crop damage?
4. How effective are eco-friendly agricultural techniques such as organic farming and terracing?
5. How effective are Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in reducing poverty in rural areas both in the agricultural and tourism sectors?
6. Does traditional medicine have a role in providing sustainable health care for people and livestock in rural communities?
7. How do we join forces to deal with a pandemic affecting people, livestock, and wildlife, such as Avian Influenza more commonly known as "Bird Flu" and the more recent Swine Flu? Some argue that all migratory birds that could be carriers of the virus should be killed. This is not a solution because Avian Influenza outbreaks also occur because of direct contact between infected poultry, and killing wild birds that arrive will not stop them migrating, yet will end up decimating endangered wildlife species.