This book explores the causes of environmental degradation in the developing world, drawing out the common themes and principles from a close analysis of the natural resource issues in Ecador, as a microcosm for much of the developing world. The authors draw their general conclusions from the intensive case studies of tropical deforestation, farm land degradation, waste and misallocation of irrigation water, petroleum development in the Amazon, mariculture and costal ecosystems, ecotourism in the Galapagos. The book demonstrates the pressures and trends which lead much of the developing world to an excessive reliance on mining renewable resources.