Environmental Management: Principles and practice

part because of the eighteenth-century Highland Clearances (forced relocation of
peasant settlers).
Movements of people can spread diseases and organisms affecting humans,
crops and wildlife (Prothero, 1994), and may have a serious impact on food security
in the host region (Döös, 1994). In Malawi in the early 1990s displaced persons
outnumbered the host populations in some regions. Some displaced persons may
return to their original homes once the reason for their move has been resolved, or if
their hopes for better conditions have failed, but there are camps which have become
virtually permanent features. There have been a few cases where refugees have brought
in skills which have benefited host populations (McGregor, 1994:123).
Refugee camps may hinder and exacerbate problems by concentrating people
together, causing dependency and deterring people from drifting back. Large
numbers of people restricted to a camp and its surroundings can have a serious
impact on flora and fauna as people desperate for fuel or food can collect virtually
everything. Water bodies and streams may also become depleted and polluted. In a
number of countries the influx of refugees has caused serious environmental
impacts—for example, Pakistan’s Northwest Frontier Province received over
3,500,000 refugees in the late 1980s and suffered serious forest and pasture damage
(Young, 1985; Allan, 1987).
One of the best-researched aspects of human displacement is dam and reservoir-
related resettlement (Figure 12.1). Numerous studies have been undertaken since
the late 1950s and a number of agencies have developed resettlement guidelines
(Barrow, 1981; Cernea, 1988; Gutman, 1994). A number of large reservoir projects
are currently in construction or are at advanced stages of planning. With the
accumulated hindsight of four decades environmental management should be able

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to combat problems, but real-world development situations make it difficult (Thukral,
1992). There is also a tendency to consider the disruption to people in the area flooded
by a reservoir. Downstream of a dam many people may suffer changes in livelihood
as river flows are altered and may have to relocate but are often largely ignored
(Horowitz, 1991).
Refugees and migrants often follow road construction into less settled areas
and it should be possible to monitor and control these dispersal routes. To reduce
refugee camp impacts it may be possible to provide alternative fuel and stoves to
discourage wood collection. Where camps seem likely to remain for a long time,
their inmates should be educated and supported to establish treecover, sustainable
horticulture and adequate water supply and sewage disposal (UNHCR, 1992).
Various countries have used planned resettlement schemes to relocate people
from areas of high population or environmental degradation (sometimes to settle a
given area and strengthen sovereignty). In Malaysia the Federal Land Development
Authority (FELDA) has opened up large areas of forest for resettling small farmers
from land-hungry states (Fong, 1985; Sutton, 1989); Indonesia has an ongoing
transmigration programme, settling people from Java on other islands. Similar state-
supported land development and resettlement programmes can be found in Latin
America (e.g. Bolivia, Ecuador), Kenya, the Sudan, Ethiopia, and several other
countries (Collins, 1986; Pichon, 1992). These schemes often cost a lot, move
relatively few people, may fail to sustain the settlers, and frequently degrade the
FIGURE 12.1 Tucuruí Dam, across the Tocantins River, Amazonian Brazil, ca. three years
before completion. The reservoir flooded about 2,300 km
2
and led to the forced relocation of
a large number of smallholders and their families, some settled only a decade or so earlier by
offical land development programmes!

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