The Rio Earth Summit of 1992 introduced several new approaches to environmental management under the general heading of sustainable devlopment. One of these approaches has forced conservationists to concede that it is no longer feasible or ethical to exlude resident communities from prtected areas, as had been the practice for more than a century. The alternative approach highlighting considerations of social justice and economic empowerment, is to recognise that humans are also part of the local ecology, and to find sustainable ways to maintain local livelihoods along with biodiversity
