A world-renowned geography and geology researcher lectured on the issues of land and environmental sustainability to a packed audience of University of Wisconsin students and faculty members at the Pyle Center Monday.
As part of the Roy F. Weston Global Distinguished Sustainability Lecture Series, Eric Lambin, a professor at the University of Louvain in Belgium, spoke about the importance of government and economic policies and their ability to maintain environmental ecosystems.
Using a comparative study on the declining wildebeest populations in the Mara region of Kenya and the sustaining population in the Serengeti of Tanzania, Lambin described the "adoptive dance" that needs to take place between natural ecosystems and social systems to maintain an area's overall environment.
"There's a constant change between one system and the other," Lambin said. "A change in one system promotes a change in another, and that change is very dynamic."
Lambin said because of the continuous and rapid environmental changes, national governments need to be ready to adopt new policies to counteract human activities that threaten a country's ecosystems.
Listing three criteria a country must meet to transition to a more sustainable landscape — information gathering, motivation and capacity — Lambin said it is possible for a country to maintain its environment while promoting economic growth.
"People need to perceive and understand information, and relay information to key decision makers," Lambin said. "They then need the appropriate institutions to resolve the potential conflicts of interest, to set the right incentives."
Lambin said the third condition, "capacity," was contingent on a country's access to sufficient capital and proper social networks to enforce the new policies.
One of the most important things Lambin said people must understand while researching environmental sustainability is who makes land-use decisions within a country.
By understanding which groups of people make the ultimate land decisions, Lambin said he believes the reasoning and motivation behind certain choices will be clearer. This allows potential conflicts between environmental and economic interests can be more easily resolved, he added.
Lambin emphasized his point by describing how the Massai people in Kenya generate income from their land — from farming and tourism — and how those activities are sometimes not conducive to environmental sustainability.
However, using the negative consequences of the deterioration of wildlife in Kenya — since it results in a decrease of tourism — as an example, Lambin argued a country's economic and environmental interests are intertwined.
"[The Kenyan people] need to balance its [economic and environmental] activities," Lambin said. "Because a decrease in wildlife will lead to a decrease in tourism and a decrease in income."
David Zaks, a UW graduate student, was one audience member who said he came away impressed with Lambin's lecture.
"[Lambin] draws on a wide variety of disciplines to answer [environmental sustainability] questions," Zaks said.
Zaks added he is encouraged that the research conducted by scientists like Lambin will lead to environmental progress in the future.
"We've only just begun to scratch the tip of the iceberg on these issues," Zaks said. "It's important to collaborate with people both within our university and beyond."
