Complaints by local communities of landslides, floods, garbage pile ups, polluted and silted up waterways, health hazards from emissions of factories, the noise nuisances and the invasion of residential areas by commercial businesses, highlight the view that such situations in the management of the environment are generating tensions, stress and conflict in the society.

This evolving state of affairs seems to have subjected the Environmental Protection Agency, natural resources agencies, the City Council, local authorities, private sector agencies, and the entrepreneurial class, to a stressful and at times, acrimonious debate on the private and public good, government and non-government interests, established professional positions, the present and the future, the global and the local scale.

In the book ‘Risks and Opportunities-managing environmental conflict and change’, Valerie Brown states, “to change the mode of environmental management from fragmentation and confrontation to coordination and cooperation is no simple step. It amounts to no less than a new culture of environmental management, requiring terms of reference which integrate social, economic and environmental concerns; an inter-professional loyalty; combined decision making; and a composite understanding of the problems and their solutions”.

Conflict in itself is not necessarily a bad thing since it signals the recognition of a need to change. It may result in disaster or provide a highly useful avenue for change.

Ensuring that the management of environmental conflicts is not a destructive but a constructive process requires more effective public participation to ensure that potential conflicts are redirected towards cooperative and constructive partnerships; local interests are taken into account; and policy requirements are met.

The environment in Guyana urgently needs good management. There seems to be a benign acceptance of trends towards urbanization, unstructured homesteading, degraded agricultural land, uncontrolled flooding, unregulated exploitation of minerals, forests, water and wildlife, and irresponsible disposal of plastics and Styrofoam. The situation poses risks but also provides opportunities for creative solutions which must recognize that managing the environment means managing social change, minimizing the risks and maximizing the opportunities for future sustainable development.

As Valerie Brown points out, “environmental management has to become the management of people, environment and technology combined. No single one of these provides all the answers”