along several broad lines. The Foundation supports activities
that help rural people find new ways to use natural resources
productively while protecting the environment. By encouraging
economic projects in rural regions of the United States and other
countries, the Foundation also fosters community development and
supports initiatives to increase employment. The Foundation
promotes research and analysis of public policies intended to
improve resource management and alleviate poverty in rural
areas.
Recognizing
that many NGOs are increasingly successful in devising ways to
reach the rural poor and improve the environment, the Foundation
supports the expansion of proven rural NGOs. And, because of the
important roles government agencies play in rural society, grants
support initiatives to improve agencies' effectiveness and to
extend their reach. In all these activities, the Foundation assists
efforts to increase attention to equity and diversity in gender,
race, and ethnicity.
In 1992 the
Foundation made grants totaling $42.5 million for rural initiatives
throughout the world. Examples of this work follow.
Environment and Development
One of
today's most fundamental global challenges is to build new models
of development that promote both economic growth and environmental
sustainability. More commonly, however, national and international
debates frame environmental questions as conflicts between forces
emphasizing economic growth and those concerned with environmental
protection. There is an urgent requirement to defuse the "jobs
versus environment" debate and to focus instead on new ways to help
communities generate employment and sustain livelihoods while at
the same time protecting the resource base on which they depend.
Innovative institutional responses are needed to chart bold
strategies and to develop public support and assistance in this
effort.
During the
past two decades, major U.S. environmental organizations have
offered an eloquent defense of the nation's resources and
environment. Through advocacy and litigation, they have helped
create one of the most progressive environmental regulatory systems
in the world. But the challenges facing the environmental community
have evolved since the movement gathered strength in the late
1960s. Their key challenge now is to help communities move beyond
conflicts between jobs and a healthy environment toward consensus
on ways to protect the world's forests, public lands, water, and
other resources while developing economies that enable families to
thrive in rural communities. The Foundation is helping several
national environmental organizations in the United States make
changes in management and programs that will enable them to promote
environmentally sound development at national and international
levels.
Also in the
United States, the Foundation supports creative experiments in
sustaining community resources. It is hoped that they will provide
models for rural communities struggling to remain economically
viable, without degrading their resource base. Parallel projects
are under way in rural areas in countries as diverse as Brazil,
Indonesia, China, and Tanzania, where environmental groups,
development organizations, and local communities are working
together toward answer to complex resource management