International Day for the Eradication of Poverty – Climate Change and Development
-October 2011

Working as Climate Change Mitigation Officer in northern Vietnam, Australian Volunteer Mark Hawkes has witnessed how poverty and environmental degradation can often go hand and hand.

Mark is based on the island of Cat Ba, a region which has experienced a rapid growth in tourism over the last decade, yet where many farmers are unable to benefit from the extra visitors because of a lack of arable land and limited fresh water availability.

 “Tourism growth has increased the price of local goods making life particularly difficult for those without education and training suited to the tourism or seafood industry,” Mark explains.

“Climate change will intensify the symptoms of rapid growth such as insufficient waste treatment and water supply.

“It will also inhibit the livelihoods of farmers through changed growing conditions, and of poor low-lying sea fishing communities through sea level rise and reduced fish harvests."

The Cat Ba Archipelago was designated a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 2004 in recognition of its significant biodiversity values, sustainable development opportunities and management challenges.

Among the Biosphere Reserve program’s aims is to engage local farmers in projects that reduce biodiversity loss while enhancing social economic and cultural conditions.

Mark has spent the last 18 months volunteering with the Office of the Cat Ba Biosphere Reserve to integrate climate change issues through working with staff to write funding proposals, analyse and report project data and deliver workshops covering foundational issues on climate change.

Mark assignment is through Australian Volunteers for International Development, an Australian Government, AusAID initiative.

The importance of sustainable development through such programs as the Biosphere Reserve is in the spotlight this week as the global community marks International Day for the Eradication of Poverty (IDEP) and Anti-Poverty Week.

 
This year’s IDEP theme ‘From Poverty to Sustainability – People at the Centre of Inclusive Development’ emphasises the critical need to draw attention to the importance of poverty eradication for building sustainable futures for all.

“Those living in poverty must be involved in sustainable development decision-making processes as these people are the most vulnerable to the consequences of inappropriate initiatives and policies that affect their lives and the environment on which we all depend,” Mark says.

 
“They also often have valuable experience of coping with limited resources and an intimate historical knowledge of local conditions and events, particularly past climatic shocks.”

For more information about Australian Volunteers for International Development visit www.ausaid.gov.au/volunteer