GROENHART/WHAT IS GROENHART
Our vision
Groenhart states that the natural resources of the South belong at first to the local population. Groenhart finds it reasonable to stimulate processes that allow that population to use the advantages these natural resources offer, in an optimal and sustainable way.
The importance of the environment when it comes to creating a sustainable human development has been underestimated for a long time. The introduction of the concept “sustainable management” in 1987 in the Brundtland report of the United Nations brought about a radical transformation in that regard, but most of all the change came about during the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. It was then that the term became commonly adopted and the international community accepted it as a specific goal.
Sustainable management aims to achieve a healthy economic development; fair and social distribution of wealth and respect for the cultural values of peoples; respect for the natural resources of the planet and its ecosystems.
During the Earth Summit, it was highlighted how important the quality of the environment is when fighting poverty. The relationship between poverty and environmental deterioration is cyclic; if poverty intensifies, the quality of the environment deteriorates and we get as a result fewer and fewer chances for the poor.
“Sustainable development meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (Brundtland Report – Our Common Future, 1987).
Our mission
Taking into account this vision and strongly inspired by the concept of sustainable development Groenhart wants to collaborate in the agreements reached under the 3 Rio Conventions:
- Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
- United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)
- United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
Within this wide framework, Groenhart wants to focus even more on the role of forests, because of its expertise on this field and because of the relevance of the forests regarding sustainable management. Forests play a fundamental role in the 3 conventions.
Forests are the greatest treasures of biodiversity, they have a major effect on soil fixation and thus, in the fight against desertification. We shouldn’t forget the fundamental role of forests on climate change: they are of major importance both to combat and diminish the effects of the climate change, mostly in the South.Foto's © Groenhart
