2.4 The transformation of a natural resource: from agriculture to agribusiness

2.5 Conflicts over mineral resources

2.6 Development and tribal peoples: resistance to displacement

2.7 Natural resource abuses: a time for change

References

2.1 The ASEAN region: great wealth and great strife

The countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) produce a
major portion of some of the world's most essential natural resources. From the
Philippines, Brunei, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore come 82 per
cent of the world's production of natural rubber, 70 per cent of copra and
coconut products, 70 per cent of tin, 56 per cent of palm-oil, and 50 per cent
of hardwood. In addition, the region's seas and rivers account for a significant
share of the world's supply of fish and other marine products. Thailand and the
Philippines, for example, are major tuna exporters to the US market. Thailand is
also one of the world's top rice exporters, and the Philippines boasts the
largest pineapple plantation in the world.

Because of the abundance of vital resources in the countries of the ASEAN
group, the area has been the scene of various local, national, and international
conflicts centring on the use, control, and disposition of natural resources. As
control over resources becomes a paramount issue in the drive for national and
human survival, disagreements and differences in approaches, priorities, and
philosophies emerge. Governments often clash over jurisdiction of lands
containing valuable raw materials such as oil and minerals. On the other hand, a
government often faces opposition from its own citizens regarding the issue of
human rights violations committed by the state as it pursues certain national
strategies of development. These conflicts are often portrayed in official
pronouncements as being between modernity and tradition, but more often than not
the conflict simply reflects the intransigence of institutionalized power and
its propensity to impose bureaucratic and technocratic planning
models.