The pursuit of a better quality of lifestyles has led man to adopt unsustainable means of achieving these goals. While on one hand, the immediate environs within home, city and workplace may have changed for the better for some of the human community, there has been the gradual exponential degradation of the world's environment. Basic needs and the environment Ambitions of luxuries have divided the global community into the haves and the have-nots. While a major portion of the world's population strives to just meet its basic needs of food, clothing and shelter; a smaller proportion has defined more complex linkages to these basic needs. These are today's consumer societies that have set to redefine its concepts of basic needs. Rural communities in the under developed countries depend directly on the natural resources to survive. Forests form a resource that is exploited for fuelwood, fodder and for non-timber forest produce. Attempts to restrict communities from using these resources by restraining access have only resulted in conflicts between the concerned communities and the authorities that seek to enforce these restrictions. In search of a middle path, Development Alternatives has attempted a strategy of more efficient use of the natural resources at Bundelkhand and Tumkur. Field experiments include biomass based enterprise - the resource varying from weed and agricultural crop to forest products. Viability of income generation options is being looked from the point of value addition to the resource, processing techniques and efficient marketing. Biomass resources and products that have been looked at within this programme are briquettes from the weed species Lantana camara, ropes from Sesbania bispinosa and Crotolaria sps. Cultivated on agricultural land; and leaf plates from Butea mononsperma - tree that is common to India's dry deciduous forests. At Tumkur, techniques such as Geographical Information Systems have been used to come up with district level plans for management of natural resources Industries and UrbanisationDevelopment of a country today is assessed by the rate of its industrialisation and urbanisation. Rapid expansion of industry has repercussions on the global environment. Even though one cannot halt development, the issues thrown by the process of development can be addressed. Today's ethical company is the company with a conscience. It acknowledges environmental and social concerns occurring within its projects and attempts to address them through preemptive and mitigatory measures. Development Alternatives helps industries, large and small, identify the best possible methods for addressing environmental and social issues. Strategies comprise efficient monitoring systems such as low cost pollution monitoring kits and technologies for cleaner production. The focus is to look beyond mere compliance to standards or regulations and effectively control pollution within the process itself. Measures for safer work environment and worker health also form essential part of the process. Waste minimization and waste management technologies are suggested. Last but not the least, social and environmental issues of large scale development projects are addressed by a set of intraorganisational management procedures and protocol that are developed specifically for the company. This ensures that environmental and social management becomes a part of the organization's normal project activities. Global EnvironmentDeforestation and industrialization have changed the chemistry of the earth's atmosphere leading to environmental issues that have global consequences. Global warming finally results in climate change thereby affecting biodiversity, agricultural productivity and sea level rise-threatening survival. Ozone depletion by pollutants has resulted in increased harmful UV-B radiation’s which have adverse effect on human health, flora and fauna. Development Alternatives is inclined towards assessing the magnitude of these problems and their solutions through research, analysis and policy formulation. The aim is to find solutions that are acceptable to the developed countries without negative repercussions third world countries. Methods to achieving this goal have been through measures suggested at various international forums such as JI (Joint Implementation) and AIJ (Activities Implemented Jointly). Living Resources ConservationRapid deforestation has resulted in a loss of habitat to several floral and faunal species. The rate of extinction has now rapidly accelerated and has impacted the biodiversity of earth. The concept of biospecies equality is a part of sustainable development. Development Alternatives is addressing the problem of deforestation by regeneration of degraded areas, afforestation and plantations in Tumkur and Bundelkhand. Habitat assessments form an integral part of all environmental impact analysis carried out for development projects. Development Alternatives looks for parallel management capabilities of people and natural resources in an attempt to optimise the inhabited micro-environment.
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