Abstract: This text is the first of two volumes. Two and a half billion people are affected directly on a day-to-day basis by the allocation and use of local resources. Yet ‘official’ development economics has concentrated on headline international issues and only recently begun to take account of the dependence of poor countries on their natural resources, the link between acute poverty and environmental degradation, and the problems associated with the management of local common property such as soil and soil cover, water, forests and their products, animals, and fisheries. The chapters cover emerging development issues, ranging from foundational matters to case studies. They address both analytic and empirical issues on the role of environmental resources in the development process, presenting explanations of existing situations and policies for the future.

Keywords: local resources, development economics, natural resources, acute poverty, environmental degradation