Charting a New Course in Environmental Good Governance: Natural Resource Management, Al Hima & Islam

The modern capitalist development model has resulted in an unsustainable exploitation of the world’s finite natural resources, particularly water. Today, nearly 80 percent of the global population is water insecure; in developing countries 1.1 billion people lack access to a formal water supply and 2.5 billion people lack safe sanitation. Water insecurity and the degradation of water resources are impacting ecosystem integrity, resulting in species extinction, habitat loss and declining productivity. In the West Asia-North Africa (WANA) region, five of the seven Arabian Peninsula countries have exhausted their renewable water resources. Desalinisation, while improving access to clean drinking water and thus health outcomes, has created other environmental problems, such as the disposal of brine, which threatens marine ecosystems, and has further consequences for livelihoods and food security.