Some Issues Facing Environmental Organisations in Developing Countries: A Case Study of the South pacific Action, Committee for Human Ecology and the Environment

Abstract

The South Pacific Action Committee for Human Ecology and the Environment is a regional environmental Non Government Organization based in Fiji but serving twelve small island nations in the South Pacific region, and involved in environmental education both formal and non-formal. At present its membership base is very limited numerically, regionally and also in terms of its socio-economic make up. This article analyses organization's current membership and issues base and makes a number of recommendations as to how the organization might broaden these. Some suggestions are also made as to how it might link its work more explicitly to issues of equality and social justice. These suggestions may have implications for other environmental NGOs in larger developing countries in the region such as Papua New Guinea which faces similar environmental issues, such as loss of rainforest, degradation of coral reefs and mangrove destruction.