Sixty-five years ago, Aldo Leopold laid down the challenge of developing a science of integrated natural resource management. But a vast gulf still exists between the high priests of theoretical ecology, the gurus of social processes and the real world of resource managers (farmers, fishers and foresters). In this book, we will attempt to understand why the manifestly sensible goal of managing natural resources in an integrated manner has proved so elusive. Our concern is with developing countries and with the effectiveness of attempts to promote ‘sustainable development’ for the vast populations of the world's poor people.

Many development assistance agencies now aspire to the dual missions of alleviating poverty and conserving the environment. Meanwhile, conservation organisations are claiming that their activities are yielding benefits for the poor. All are implying that natural resources can be managed in ways that achieve immediate benefits for local people whilst sustaining long-term local and global environmental values.