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Module 5: Towards a
Sustainable World
Module Overview
The livelihood of more than half of the economically active population
in
the developing world directly depends in whole or part on the environment.
Through agriculture and animal raising, hunting, fishing, forestry, and foraging,
the sustenance of life of many member of world population depends on its
environment. This alone underscores the importance of “ensuring
environmental sustainability.”
The final module of this learning guide discusses the relationship of
human beings towards their surroundings. We will learn about sustainability;
examine the thrust of striving for a sustainable development through
environment conservation by way of rainforestation; and come up with a basic
understanding of the models of Sustainable Development.

Motivation Question
What is sustainable development, and how can it be achieved?

Module Pre-Test

True or False. Write true if the statement is true and false if it is not. Write
your answer on the space provided before each item.
_____1. Stability is the same a sustainability.
_____2. Sustainability is the same as stability.
_____3. Biodiversity in the Philippines is one of the richest in the world.
_____4. Sustainability considers the long-term capacities of a system to exist
and gives due importance to a kind of development that meets the needs of
the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet
their own needs.
_____5. The increase of awareness of the sustainability problem in environment
issues and resources translated into international cooperation.

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Lesson 5.1: Sustainable Development

Lesson Summary
This lesson discusses the concept of sustainable development in an
era of globalization. This lesson aims to determine the elements needed to
achieve a development that is sustainable in the context of a rapidly changing
environment.

Lesson Outcomes
At the end of the lesson, the students should be able to:
1. define Stability and Sustainability;
2. examine the thrust of striving for a development that is sustainable
through environment conservation by way of rainforestation;
and
3. come up with a basic understanding on the Models of Sustainable
Development.

Motivation Question
How do people interact with their surroundings? Is sustainable
development a practical and feasible goal for nations? What are the challenges
faced in attaining sustainable development?

Discussion
The first decade of the 21st century could be characterized with
collapsing financial markets, rising unemployment rate, shrinking middle class,
and deeper inequalities. Not only that, said decade is also hounded with
extreme indebtedness, inability of governments to force through reforms,
scarcity which lead to the challenge on the availability of resources, and of
course, climate change (Steger, 2014). According to Beck (1986), the main
reason for the problems of the first decade of the 21st century has been the
inability of modern societies to produce enough stability and sustainability.
The term Stability is associated with firmness in position, performance
and resistance to change especially in a disruptive way. The International
Monetary Fund (IMF) describe it as avoiding large swings in economic activity,
high inflation and excessive volatility in exchange rates and financial markets
(International Monetary Fund 2012). Studies manifest that within a few years,
every economy moves through periods of rapid growth with rising demand,
higher inflation and dropping unemployment, followed by depression with
reversal phenomena (Knoop, 2009). The challenge is that excessive highs and
lows should be avoided. In other words, extreme bubbles of economic

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activities must be calmed down before they burst. The fluctuations themselves
are unavoidable. But a clever stabilization policy could flatten and shorten them
without changing significantly long term trends of growth (Steger, 2014).
Sustainability should not be seen as different from stability, although
at first sight the overlap seems obvious. A well known definition of
sustainability comes from the Bruntland Report (World Commission on
Environment and Development, 1987) prepared for the United Nations in 1987.
It says that sustainability refers to a development that meets the needs of the
present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their
own needs. In other worlds, it is all about the responsible use of resources
(Steger, 2014).
Economics has had certain problems with sustainability, analyzing
mainly the questions of long term growth. At a certain stage of development of
economic theories technology became a fantastic escape from the
sustainability dilemma (Steger, 2014). Yet, in Visayas State University, In
Baybay City, Leyte, Philippines, a technology was initiated in the early 1990s
that was designed to promote sustainable development, and at the same time,
address the call to save Mother Nature. This technology was referred to as
rainforestation. As a technology, rainforestation came into being as a response
to the rapid biodiversity loss in the Philippines.
As a fact, biodiversity in the Philippines is one of the richest in the world.
It is part of the 17 mega diverse countries which collectively claim two thirds
of all global species. Yet, 70% of Philippine forests have vanished from the
1930s to 1988 (Haribon Foundation, 2016). There have been two major causes
of Philippine forests loss. They refer to the conversion of primary forests to
secondary forests by both legal and illegal logging as well as the removal of
secondary forests cover by expansion of upland agriculture (Fernando, 2005).
Because of this, massive reforestation has been initiated by the government.
However, though the Philippine government has introduced programs to
rehabilitate denuded lands, the efforts of both government and private sectors
have not been enough to abate the rapid deforestation rate of the Philippine
forests (Kalikasan People’s Network, 2011). Not only that, decades long
reforestation efforts using fast growing exotic species has led to the alteration
of Philippine rainforests into simply forests plantation which failed to bring
back ecosystem functions (Haribon Foundation, 2005). After all, exotic trees
cannot replace Philippine native trees because they are not suited to Philippine
climate (Ranada, 2014).
Hence, to answer this problem of rehabilitating denuded lands, the
Visayas State University (VSU) introduced rainforestation in the early 1990’s.
Rainforestation is a technology designed to make use of unproductive lands by
planting native tree species which are not widely used in the Philippine
government’s reforestation program (Milan and Ceniza, 2009). This technology
found its way to Visayas State University since in early 1990, the Philippine-
German Applied Tropical Ecology Project started to look into possibilities of
rehabilitating former forested areas to get back the ecological functions of the
degraded areas needed for poverty alleviation through sustainable rural
development. This program was directed for the promotion of biodiversity
rehabilitation, conservation of remaining primary forests and natural
resources, and the development of a closed canopy and high diversity forest
farming system called Rainforestation. The directives of the program were
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formulated so that Rainforestation could replace the wide spread slash-and-

burn practices and protect and enhance biodiversity by using indigenous trees
only. In 1994 the hypothesis was formulated that a farming system in the
humid tropics is increasingly more sustainable the closer it is in its species
composition to the original local rainforest (Goltenboth and Tropentag, 2005).
With this, the ecological functions of a given ecosystem were re-established
while subsistence farmers were provided with a stable and long-term income.
Since its introduction, rainforestation was disseminated by Visayas
State University and was declared one of the official reforestation methods of
the Philippines’ Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in
2004. As mentioned earlier, rainforestation was also designed to provide a
staggered income from high-value timber, fruit trees, spices, and medicinals.
To add to that, the technology had also increased biodiversity in rainforestation
sites since it helped restore soil productivity and protected the watersheds on
degraded sites (Schneider, Ashton, Montagngini, & Milan, 2013). Hence, at the
start of the early 1990’s, a number of rainforestation sites had been established
in the different parts of the country. In the case of actual rainforestation
adopters, for individuals from the different parts of the Visayas have shared
their experiences on how rainforestation has affected their lives.
We start with the case of Mr. Manuel Posas of Barangay Marcos,
Baybay, Leyte. Among the four adopters, he was the first to adopt
rainforestation in 1995. Mr. Posas had successfully converted an idol and
denuded grassland into a small forest full of Philippine native trees. Aside from
Mr. Posas, this study would also look into the case of Mr. Rene “Tatay Eti”
Vendiola of Barangay Liptong, Bacong, Negros Oriental. Mr. Vendiola’s
rainforestation farm had served as an inspiration for many Negrense to also
adopt rainforestation since his rainforestation farm had given him the
opportunity to venture into eco-tourism.
The third adopter is Mayor Eufracio “Dodong” Maratas of Pilar,
Camotes Island, Cebu. As a public servant, Mayor Maratas acquired his interest
in rainforestation way back to the years when he was still a councilor in his
municipality in the year 2000. Mayor Maratas was convinced with the idea of
rainforestation since he perceived it as a way to save and sustain the
watershed areas in his island municipality. The fourth adopter that this study
is Mr. Romeo Gutang of Pilar, Camotes Island, Cebu. Mr. Gutang is school
teacher at Dadap Elementary School in Pilar, Camotes. As an educator for very
young pupils, Mr. Gutang has realized that one of the ways to encourage people
to care for Mother Nature is to start the advocacy for nature conservation by
starting it himself. According to the four rainforestation adopters,
rainforestation has facilitated to enable them to achieve development that is
sustainable since it gives them things that are very beneficial to their lives such
as a source of clean air and water, economic benefits, political benefits, and
personal fulfillment.
Looking at the technology as an escape from the sustainability
dilemma, rainforestation serves as an alternative in order to ensure that
resources have to be used responsibly. However, society has to invest human
capital in attaining this end. In the case of rainforestation, the adopters from
the different parts of the Visayas have demonstrated that development that is
sustainable may be difficult, yet it is very possible and doable. The results of
their efforts may contribute to educate the younger generations and give them
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inspiration that it is not yet too late to save and conserve of what is left of the
natural environment. According to Garret Hardin (1968), if the use of the
common is below the carrying capacity of the land, all users benefit. However,
if one or more users increase the use of the commons beyond its carrying
capacity, the commons become degraded. The cost of the degradations is
incurred by all users. Hardin calls this “The Tragedy of the Commons”. Hence,
unless environmental costs are accounted for and addressed in land use
practices, eventually, the land will be unable to support activity (Hardin, 1968).
Hence, in the case of rainforestation, such technology has to be owned
so that people who would adopt the technology would take it as his personal
commitment in order to contribute to the thrust of nature conservation. If
nobody owns the technology, people will just use and exploit it and would not
think of for the technology’s well-being since it is open and accessible to all.
This is the reason why Hardin (1968) had asserted that non-regulated access
to fisheries have quickly lead to empty seas and have caused the collapsed of
the fishing industry in many countries (Hardin, 1968). This is also true to many
of the Philippine forests which people just take for granted for many years
since it was then open and accessible to all.
Sustainability Problems in Environmental Issues and Resources
Rising awareness of the sustainability problem in environment issues
and resources translated also into international cooperation (Steger, 2014). In
the case of Visayas State University, in Baybay City, Leyte, Philippines,
rainforestation has been implemented not only by Visayas State University
alone but with the help of foreign partners – the German Technical Cooperation
(GTZ) in the 1990s and Yale University’s Environment Leadership Training
Initiatives (ELTI) starting 2008 and has continued to support rainforestation
implementation until the present. In fact, one of ELTI’s outstanding alumnus of
its leadership program is Mayor Eufracio “Dodong” Maratas of Pilar, Camotes,
Cebu, who after being trained to be one of the rainforestation adopters in the
Philippines and even in Nepal has applied his knowledge on how to take good
care of the environment in his island municipality where he intend to protect
the remaining watershed areas and mangrove forests. Not only that, Mayor
Maratas have also succeeded in convincing Mr. Romeo Gutang and Mr. William
Cabonegro, both public school teachers, to get themselves involved in the
thrust of nature conservation so that they could also disseminate the necessity
to protect Mother Nature to their elementary and high school students. At
present, Mayor Maratas has claimed that rainforestation has become an
instrument in mainstreaming water, soil, and biodiversity conservation in his
island municipality that led to a bigger constituency among the citizens
including youth and children. It has also paved the way for Pilar’s upstream and
downstream collaboration in such a way that it teaches stakeholders ---
fishermen who double as farmers ---- not to destroy what are left of the trees in
their mountains during the times when the seas are unfavorable for fishing so
that they could sustain the source of water in their locality.
In the international stage, there have already been various conferences
on climate change and framework agreements like the Kyoto Protocol on the
reduction of greenhouse gasses. Yet, their effectiveness has not been very
high. Many countries have viewed such global actions against climate change
as posing a threat to their vital economic interests especially those of the
developing countries. Nevertheless, sustainability perspective started to be
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visible not only in the environment area. The issue on population imbalances
such as over population in many Asian Countries and the problem of ageing
population in many industrialized countries also fall on the realm on the issue
of sustainability (Steger,2014).
Towards a Sustainable (and more stable) Economic Model
There are three areas of economic models that ought to be re-thought
and redesigned. Such economic models are the following:
1. New clarification on what an efficient market is. ; 2. There are many
different institutional ways to efficient economic systems. ; 3. What is
economic growth and what kind of growth is compatible with the idea of
sustainability (Steger,2014).
The complexity approach to markets, in one way or another, asserts
that there have been difficulties with efficient economic policies that provide
stability and sustainability. There should be formal concepts of markets which
would dominate modern economics. Yet, market assumptions are like rocking
horses.: No matter the reason, horses with blinkers will move in an expected
way. However, the pluralism development model put emphasis on the
convergence of National Economic models. This paved the way for rapid
expansion of neo-liberal ideology together with its corresponding problems.
First, it leads to increased exposition of the world economic systems on crises
and contagion effect, second, it has problems in relation to efficiency, and third,
it has to deal with the legitimacy of market based solutions (Steger, 2014). As
Dani Rodrik (2007) puts it: “Markets are the essence of a market economy in
the same sense that lemons are the essence of a lemonade pure lemon juice
is barely drinkable to make a good lemonade, you need to mix it with water and
sugar.”
There are varieties of capitalism. One important aspect of it refers to
firms which are construed to be the most important actors for welfare creation.
What follows are the resources which take the form of the capital, labor, and
skills. Hence, aligning firms with the theoretical model of liberal market
economy would pave the way for their dynamic access to resources, capital
from stock markets, hire and fire labor force, as well as skilled workers.
Moreover, if firms are put in line with coordinated market economy, they would
be lead to transactions which are stable and long-term oriented, access to
capital from banks, labor are based on long-term contracts, and skills are
produced in companies (Steger,2014).
Hence, as the economy is managed, it is more geared towards growth.
With this, approaches to growth have been identified which started with the
Roll-over Effect. This approach to growth is more dominated by the Gross
Domestic Product (GDP) index in the measurement of the performance of
national economies. Another approach to growth is referred to as the More
Growth Approach which is mainly characterized by the principle that the more
goods produced, the better it is for the economy. Amended Growth is
construed as another approach to growth. This emphasizes the fact that Gross
Domestic Product (GDP) is just one important index. There are many other
important indexes like the Human Development Index (HDI) among others
which refer to the several aspects of the quality of people’s life and
sustainability (Steger, 2014). The last approach to growth is referred to as the
End of Growth approach. According to Tyler Cowen, a professor at George
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Mason University is Virginia, USA, “the world economy is moving towards a

time of great stagnation (Cowen, 2011). According to Cowen, there are no low
hanging fruits anymore. By this he means that the day of the inexpensive
access to resources is already over. Hence, the extreme increase in
productivity following from migration of the labor force and global competition
is close to exhaustion (Cowen, 2011). Hence, a slower pace of innovation is a
crucial point in explaining lower rates of productivity rise. The above arguments
are of course speculations, and it is not difficult to find opposite optimistic
views. However, dreary visions contain enough credibility to encourager ideas
about a new concept of growth and development, and thus, new concepts of
stability and sustainability (Steger, 2014).

Conclusion
The notions of stability and sustainability often overlap with each other.
Yet, the two concepts are not necessarily the same. While stability in the
economic sense refers to the avoidance of large swings in economic activity,
high inflation and excessive volatility in exchange rates and financial markets
(International Monetary Fund 2012), sustainability gives more emphasis on to
a development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the
ability of future generations to meet their own needs (Steger, 2014).
In this chapter, sustainability is more given emphasis since it primarily
considers the long-term capacities of a system to exist and gives due
importance to a kind of Development that meets the needs of the present
without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs
(World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987). Hence, in the
Philippines, one of the things given due importance is the carrying capacity of
the natural environment to support the people for a longer period of time.
Moreover, this chapter also emphasizes that the way to growth is neither
uniform nor static. It is very dynamic in essence that it mentions different
economic growth models. Though said models are only speculations by
experts, it simply gives one idea of the movement of this present generations
path towards progress, development, stability, and sustainability.

Lesson Tasks/Activities
As a student of university that focussed on agricultural and
environmental science, how could you show that you are doing things that
promote sustainable development and environment conservation? Explain
your answer.

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