Get the Facts! People and the
Environment – Not an
Either/Or
Proposition
As growing numbers of people
compete for survival, natural
resources dwindle. Maintaining the
delicate balance between human
health and productivity and
protecting the environment and
resources on which all life depends
is crucial to successful and sustainable
development programs.
USAID's programs in family planning
and the environment show
how common sense coupled with
logical programming can protect
and improve conditions for both
people and the earth.
Access the complete text of this Get the Facts! People and the
Environment ? Not an
Either/Or
Proposition brochure [PDF, 1.6MB], including related graphs and charts.
 Why?
How?
What can YOU do?
Why?
It is historical fact ? and current reality ? that human populations put pressure on their natural surroundings. Today, environmental
degradation is worst in the developing world, where 98 percent of population growth is occurring.
- Since 1950, the world population has more than doubled, growing from
2.5 billion to 6 billion in 1999. By 2050, the population is projected to
grow to at least 9.1 billion.
- At the current rate of growth, the world's people will face food and water
shortages, deforestation, and poorly managed urbanization and industrialization.
- All of these threaten human life and the world's environment.
Each year, some 40 million acres of tropical forest (an area nearly the size of
Washington state) disappear as trees are cleared for crops, human settlements,
and fuel wood.
- The demand for water in many areas exceeds supply. Watersheds, rivers,
aquifers, and wetland habitats are being destroyed. As a result, poor quality
drinking water is a major public health problem and a major contributor to
infant and child deaths in the developing world. Worsening water scarcity
stems in large part from increases in population.
How?
Family planning programs can help relieve stress on
the environment.
- Access to USAID's voluntary family planning programs helps couples space births and have the number of children they want. Family planning not only improves the health and lives of women and their families, it also helps reduce pressure on the environment.
- USAID supports many programs in communities in the developing world
that incorporate family planning with education about sustainable agricultural
practices and earth-saving landscape approaches.
- Integrating family planning and environmental programs works. Many such
efforts have achieved significant advances both in acceptance of family planning
and the adoption of agricultural practices that are environmentally sound.
What can YOU do?
Now more than ever we must be aware of
the link between population growth and
environmental stress and take action to
protect the environment.
- Get informed about international development, the environment, and
family planning. Look for stories in your newspapers and on radio and
television. Search the Web for information.
- Find out what the rest of the world is saying about this issue by viewing
www.unep.org/newscentre.
- Tell others about the connection between family planning and the environment
and why this is important ? not only to Americans but to the
rest of the world.
- Get involved with an organization that is active in international affairs,
the environment, health, or any area that interests you.
- Support international family planning programming and additional
funding for programs that make family planning available to all people.
- Talk to children and young people about the world’s people and tell
them why helping others in the world is important. Explain that it is important
for the United States to play a role in improving world health.
- Find out what your government is doing in the area of family planning through the U.S.
Agency for International Development. Visit our Web site at
http://www.usaid.gov/our_work/global_health/pop/index.html.
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