The challenge is development. In the insular Caribbean, as indeed in any other part of the world, the urgent task is to shape and give life to a form of development that is equitable, just and sustainable.

Natural resources are critical to this process of development for economic, social and cultural reasons. They provide goods and services that are essential to human survival and economic growth, and the relationship between people and their natural milieu shapes many essential aspects of social organisation and cultural expression. Beyond its direct benefits to human societies, nature also has its intrinsic value. The conservation and management of natural resources are therefore an economic, social, ecological, cultural and moral imperative.

A wide range of policies and instruments is needed to achieve the goals of sustainability and equity. Central among these is participation, defined as a process of planning and decision-making which facilitates dialogue among all concerned parties, and which leads to a more equitable distribution of power among them. Participation is needed to ensure that planning processes benefit from local and popular knowledge, respect and build upon traditional systems, integrate resource management efforts into their larger context, improve effectiveness and efficiency, and contribute to broader goals of community empowerment and development.

Participatory processes of planning and decision-making can lead to the definition and adoption of forms of management where the authority and the responsibility are effectively shared among state agencies and other stakeholders. Sharing of management roles and responsibilities is particularly appropriate to resources which are held or may have historically been managed under some form of common property regime, namely forests, seas, rivers, coastal zones, wildlife and rural landscapes.

In most instances, the management of these resources supports, and benefits from, collective action at the resource user level and collaboration between the various concerned parties. But human institutions, particularly those at the local level, are restricted by processes of state control and by the dominance of large market forces which discourage collective action. There are many factors which now threaten social structures and prevent the participation of civil society in the development process. In the face of such disintegration, there is a need to rebuild a sense of community, to restore social cohesion, to protect cultural integrity, to raise a sense of ownership and control over the processes of development, and to strengthen individual self-esteem.

The Caribbean is therefore faced with two converging challenges, the challenge to manage natural resources for sustainable use to meet growing human needs, and the challenge to design and implement new modes of governance which enhance stakeholder participation, personal self-esteem and collective action. These challenges converge, because participation can make natural resource management more effective, and because the management of natural resources provides an ideal terrain for the promotion of collective action, the rebuilding of communities, and the creation of meaningful partnerships.

Over the past decades, there has been a growing consciousness of environmental issues and of their relevance to human development in the Caribbean, and there is now an acceptance of the need for participation in all the processes of development. The context is, in many respects, now favourable for the adoption of policies and measures which can lead to increased participation, a sharing of roles and responsibilities and effective resource management for sustainable use.

There are, however, a number of factors that militate against the acceptance of these policies and measures, and there is a danger that a number of influences, many of them external, could distract the Caribbean region from some of its most pressing priorities. There are also the concerns that concepts and principles are not always translated into action, and that the real implications of sustainable development may not be accepted by all actors.

There is therefore a demand for concrete responses, and for a conceptual framework which can guarantee that these responses meet the broader objectives of sustainability, equity and justice. There is an urgent need for action, and an imperative for those who wish to support that action to be strategic and focused. Starting from the real experiences of Caribbean peoples and institutions, there is a need for new policies, and there is a need to reconcile policy and practice.

In all these efforts, as indeed in any other field of human endeavour in the Caribbean, there is also an imperative to build on regional assets and talents, to develop closer links and forms of cooperation, to cross the borders of geography and history that have prevented closer integration. All regional initiatives, however modest they may be, must embrace this vision of a strong, united and cohesive region.