Editing Environmental movement (section)

=== Asia ===

==== Bangladesh ====
Mithun Roy Chowdhury, President, Save Nature & Wildlife (SNW), [[Bangladesh]], insisted that the people of Bangladesh raise their voice against [[Tipaimukh Dam]], being constructed by the [[Government of India]]. He said the Tipaimukh Dam project will be another "death trap for Bangladesh like the [[Farakka Barrage]]," which would lead to an [[environmental disaster]] for 50 million people in the [[Meghna River]] basin. He said that this project will start [[desertification]] in Bangladesh.<ref>{{cite web |title=Protest against the Tipaimukh Dam by Save Nature & Wildlife (SNW), Bangladesh |url=http://www.newstoday.com.bd/index.php?option=details&news_id=50039&date=2012-01-14 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201205055556/http://www.newstoday.com.bd/index.php?option=details&news_id=50039&date=2012-01-14 |archive-date=5 December 2020 |access-date=17 March 2013 |website=Newstoday.com.bd}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Long march against Tipai dam begins |url=http://www.thedailystar.net/news-detail-97465 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200919052342/https://www.thedailystar.net/news-detail-97465 |archive-date=19 September 2020 |access-date=2 September 2016 |newspaper=The Daily Star}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Protest against Tipaimukh dam |url=http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/more.php?news_id=93865&date=2012-01-14#.TxCr7b1D420.facebook |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160817014402/http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/more.php?news_id=93865&date=2012-01-14#.TxCr7b1D420.facebook |archive-date=17 August 2016 |access-date=17 March 2013 |publisher=Thefinancialexpress-bd.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Protest tipai Dam |url=http://www.kalerkantho.com/?view=details&archiev=yes&arch_date=14-01-2012&type=gold&data=Food&pub_no=761&cat_id=1&menu_id=43&news_type_id=1&index=41 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210527120040/https://www.kalerkantho.com/?view=details&archiev=yes&arch_date=14-01-2012&type=gold&data=Food&pub_no=761&cat_id=1&menu_id=43&news_type_id=1&index=41 |archive-date=27 May 2021 |access-date=17 March 2013 |publisher=Kalerkantho.com}}</ref>

Bangladesh was ranked the most polluted country in the world due to defective automobiles, particularly diesel-powered vehicles, and hazardous gases from industry. The air is a hazard to Bangladesh's human health, ecology, and economic progress.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Rabin |first1=Mominul Haque |last2=Wang |first2=Qingyue |last3=Kabir |first3=Md Humayun |last4=Wang |first4=Weiqian |date=January 2023 |title=Pollution characteristics and risk assessment of potentially toxic elements of fine street dust during COVID-19 lockdown in Bangladesh |journal=Environmental Science and Pollution Research |language=en |volume=30 |issue=2 |pages=4323–4345 |bibcode=2023ESPR...30.4323R |doi=10.1007/s11356-022-22541-8 |issn=0944-1344 |pmc=9377810 |pmid=35971052 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

==== China ====
{{Further|Environmentalism in China}}

China's environmental movement is becoming stronger, with the establishment of environmental non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that are advocating policy changes and placing environmental causes on the national agenda. These activists have the tendency to spontaneously join with local citizens, specialists, as well as other actors to work on specific environmental concerns. Grassroots mobilization and protests have also become more common, frequently focusing on localized concerns such as pollution, forest depletion, or biodiversity conservation. Such campaigns may not necessarily attract extensive national media coverage, but collectively they promote environmental awareness and promote sustainability in China.<ref>{{cite web |author=Fengshi Wu |year=2009 |title=Environmental Activism and Civil Society Development in China: 15 Years in Review |url=http://www.harvard-yenching.org/sites/harvard-yenching.org/files/featurefiles/WU%20Fengshi_Environmental%20Civil%20Society%20in%20China2.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170309234612/https://www.harvard-yenching.org/sites/harvard-yenching.org/files/featurefiles/WU%20Fengshi_Environmental%20Civil%20Society%20in%20China2.pdf |archive-date=9 March 2017 |access-date=15 August 2018 |publisher=Harvard-Yenching Institute Working Paper Series}}</ref> Environmental protests in China are increasingly expanding their scope of concerns, calling for broader participation "in the name of the public."<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Christoph Steinhardt |author2=Fengshi Wu |year=2016 |title=In the Name of the Public: Environmental Protest and the Changing Landscape of Popular Contention in China |journal=The China Journal |volume=75 |pages=61–82 |doi=10.1086/684010 |s2cid=102491027}}</ref>

The Chinese have realized the ability of riots and protests to have success and had led to an increase in disputes in China by 30% since 2005 to more than 50,000 events. Protests cover topics such as environmental issues, [[land consumption|land loss]], income, and political issues. They have also grown in size from about 10 people or fewer in the mid-1990s to 52 people per incident in 2004. China has more relaxed environmental laws than other countries in Asia, so many polluting factories have relocated to China, causing [[pollution in China]].

[[Water pollution]], [[water scarcity]], [[soil pollution]], [[soil degradation]], and [[desertification]] are issues currently in discussion in China. The [[groundwater table]] of the [[North China Plain]] is dropping by 1.5&nbsp;m (5&nbsp;ft) per year. This groundwater table occurs in the region of China that produces 40% of the country's grain.<ref name="Asia">{{cite web |last=Bello |first=Walden |date=12 October 2007 |title=The Environmental Movement in the Global South |url=http://www.tni.org/archives/act/17458 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130605202704/http://www.tni.org/archives/act/17458 |archive-date=5 June 2013 |access-date=15 February 2013 |publisher=Transnational Institute}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Guha |first=Ramachandra |title=The Last Liberal |publisher=Permanent Black |pages=27–28}}</ref> [[Center for Legal Assistance to Pollution Victims|The Center for Legal Assistance to Pollution Victims]] works to confront legal issues associated with environmental justice by hearing court cases that expose the narratives of victims of environmental pollution.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Yang |first=Guobin |year=2005 |title=Environmental NGOs and Institutional Dynamics in China |url=https://repository.upenn.edu/asc_papers/341/ |url-status=live |journal=The China Quarterly |volume=181 |pages=44–66 |doi=10.1017/S0305741005000032 |s2cid=15522940 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210527121539/https://repository.upenn.edu/asc_papers/341/ |archive-date=27 May 2021 |access-date=2 July 2018}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=July 2018}}  As China continues domestic economic reforms and integration into global markets, there emerge new linkages between China's domestic [[environmental degradation]] and global ecological crisis.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Fengshi Wu |title=Critical Issues in Contemporary China: Unity, Stability and Development |author2=Richard Edmonds |publisher=Routledge |year=2017 |editor=Czes Tubilewicz |place=London and New York |pages=105–119 |chapter=Chapter 7: Environmental degradation in China}}</ref>

Comparing the experience of China, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan reveals that the impact of environmental activism is heavily modified by domestic political context, particularly the level of integration of mass-based protests and policy advocacy NGOs. Hinted by the history of neighboring Japan and South Korea, the possible convergence of NGOs and anti-pollution protests will have significant implications for Chinese environmental politics in the coming years.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Fengshi Wu |title=Routledge Handbook of Environment and Society in Asia |author2=Wen Bo |publisher=Routledge |year=2014 |editor1=Graeme Lang |place=London and New York |pages=105–119 |chapter=Nongovernmental Organizations and Environmental Protest: Impacts in East Asia |editor2=Paul Harris}}</ref>

====India====
{{Further|Environmental movement in India}}

Environmental and public health is an ongoing struggle within India. The first seed of an environmental movement in India was the foundation in 1964 of ''Dasholi Gram Swarajya Sangh'', a labour cooperative started by [[Chandi Prasad Bhatt]]. It was inaugurated by [[Sucheta Kriplani]] and founded on land donated by Shyma Devi. This initiative was eventually followed up with the [[Chipko movement]] starting in 1974.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Badri |first=Adarsh |date=2024-03-04 |title=Feeling for the Anthropocene: affective relations and ecological activism in the global South |url=https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiae010 |journal=International Affairs |volume=100 |issue=2 |pages=731–749 |doi=10.1093/ia/iiae010 |issn=0020-5850}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Badri |first=Adarsh |date=2024-06-03 |title=Chipko's Lessons for Today's Global Environmentalism – Adarsh Badri |url=https://adarshbadri.me/international-affairs/chipko-lesson-global-activism/ |access-date=2024-07-19 |language=en-US}}</ref>

The most severe single event underpinning the movement was the [[Bhopal disaster|Bhopal gas leakage]] on 3 December 1984.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Taylor |first=Alan |title=Bhopal: The World's Worst Industrial Disaster, 30 Years Later - The Atlantic |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2014/12/bhopal-the-worlds-worst-industrial-disaster-30-years-later/100864/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200606200812/https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2014/12/bhopal-the-worlds-worst-industrial-disaster-30-years-later/100864/ |archive-date=6 June 2020 |access-date=10 June 2020 |website=The Atlantic |language=en}}</ref> 40 tons of [[methyl isocyanate]] was released, immediately killing 2,259 people and ultimately affecting 700,000 citizens.

India has a national campaign against [[Coca-Cola]] and [[Pepsi Cola]] plants due to their practices of drawing groundwater and contaminating fields with sludge. The movement is characterized by local struggles against intensive [[aquaculture]] farms. The most influential part of the environmental movement in India is the anti-dam movement. Dam creation has been thought of as a way for India to catch up with the West by connecting to the [[power grid]] with giant dams, coal or oil-powered plants, or nuclear plants. Jhola Aandolan a mass [[Social movement|movement]] is conducting as fighting against [[polyethylene]] carry bags uses and promoting cloth/jute/paper carry bags to protect the environment and [[nature]]. Activists in the Indian environmental movement consider global warming, sea levels rising, and glaciers retreating decreasing the amount of water flowing into streams to be the biggest challenges for them to face in the early twenty-first century.<ref name="Asia" />
Eco Revolution movement has been started by [https://econeeds.org/ Eco Needs Foundation]<ref>{{cite web |title=Welcome to Eco Needs Foundation |url=http://www.econeeds.org |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210527120113/http://www.econeeds.org/ |archive-date=27 May 2021 |access-date=2 July 2017 |website=Econeeds.org}}</ref> in 2008 from Aurangabad Maharashtra that seeks the participation of children, youth, researchers, spiritual and political leaders to organise awareness programmes and conferences. Child activists against [[air pollution in India]] and [[Greenhouse gas emissions by India|greenhouse gas emissions]] by India include [[Licypriya Kangujam]]. From the mid to late 2010s a coalition of urban and Indigenous communities came together to protect [[Aarey Forest|Aarey]], a forest located in the suburbs of [[Mumbai]].<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Harris |first1=Kenzie |last2=Jhaveri |first2=Radhika |date=2024-02-06 |title=Commons Conversations: Insights into Environmental Justice Movements in India with Radhika Jhaveri |url=https://commonslibrary.org/commons-conversations-insights-into-environmental-justice-movements-in-india-with-radhika-jhaveri/ |access-date=2024-07-08 |website=The Commons Social Change Library |language=en-AU}}</ref>  Farming and indigenous communities have also opposed pollution and clearing caused by mining in states such as [[Goa]], [[Odisha]], and [[Chhattisgarh]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Smit |first=Jan Paul |date=2022-11-21 |title=Mining Resistance in India |url=https://commonslibrary.org/mining-resistance-in-india/ |access-date=2024-07-08 |website=The Commons Social Change Library |language=en-AU}}</ref>

==== Middle East ====
[[File:Share of agricultural land which is irrigated, OWID.svg|thumb|Share of agricultural land which is irrigated (2021)]]
Environmental activism in the [[Arab world]], including [[Middle East and North Africa]] (MENA), mobilizes around issues such as [[industrial pollution]], and insistence that the government provides [[irrigation]].<ref>{{Cite book |author1=Harry Verhoevenn |title=Environmental Politics in the Middle East |date=2018 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780190050139 |page=28}}</ref>
The [[League of Arab States]] has one specialized sub-committee, of 12 standing specialized subcommittees in the Foreign Affairs Ministerial Committees, which deals with Environmental Issues. Countries in the League of Arab States have demonstrated an interest in environmental issues, on paper some environmental activists have doubts about the level of commitment to environmental issues; being a part of the world community may have obliged these countries to portray concern for the environment. The initial level of environmental awareness may be the creation of a ministry of the environment. The year of establishment of a ministry is also indicative of the level of engagement. Saudi Arabia was the first to establish environmental law in 1992 followed by Egypt in 1994. Somalia is the only country without environmental law. In 2010 the Environmental Performance Index listed Algeria as the top Arab country at 42 of 163; Morocco was at 52 and Syria at 56. The [[Environmental Performance Index]] measures the ability of a country to actively manage and protect its environment and the health of its citizens. A weighted index is created by giving 50% weight for environmental health objective (health) and 50% for ecosystem vitality (ecosystem); values range from 0–100. No Arab countries were in the top quartile, and 7 countries were in the lowest quartile.<ref name="Arab world">{{cite journal |last=Djoundourian |first=Salpie |date=1 August 2011 |title=Environmental movement in the Arab world |journal=Environment, Development and Sustainability |volume=13 |issue=4 |pages=743–758 |bibcode=2011EDSus..13..743D |doi=10.1007/s10668-011-9287-7 |s2cid=153447715}}</ref>

====South Korea and Taiwan====
South Korea and Taiwan experienced similar growth in industrialization from 1965 to 1990 with few environmental controls.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wu and Wen |title=Nongovernmental organizations and environmental protests: Impacts in East Asia (chapter 7 of Routledge Handbook of Environment and Society in Asia) |publisher=Routledge |year=2015 |isbn=978-0-415-65985-7 |location=London |pages=105–119}}</ref> South Korea's [[Han River (Korea)|Han River]] and [[Nakdong River]] were so polluted by unchecked dumping of industrial waste that they were close to being classified as biologically dead. Taiwan's formula for balanced growth was to prevent industrial concentration and encourage manufacturers to set up in the countryside. This led to 20% of the farmland being polluted by industrial waste and 30% of the rice grown on the island was contaminated with heavy metals. Both countries had spontaneous environmental movements drawing participants from different classes. Their demands were linked with issues of employment, occupational health, and agricultural crisis. They were also quite militant; the people learned that protesting can bring results. The polluting factories were forced to make immediate improvements to the conditions or pay compensation to victims. Some were even forced to shut down or move locations. The people were able to force the government to come out with new restrictive rules on toxins, industrial waste, and air pollution. All of these new regulations caused the migration of those polluting industries from Taiwan and South Korea to China and other countries in Southeast Asia with more relaxed environmental laws.

==== Conservation movements in India and Burma during Colonial times ====
The modern conservation movement was manifested in the forests of [[India]], with the practical application of scientific conservation principles. The [[conservation ethic]] that began to evolve included three core principles: human activity damaged the [[Natural environment|environment]], there was a [[civic duty]] to maintain the environment for future generations, and scientific, empirically based methods should be applied to ensure this duty was carried out. [[James Ranald Martin]] was prominent in promoting this ideology, publishing many [[Epidemiology|medico-topographical]] reports that demonstrated the scale of damage wrought through large-scale deforestation and desiccation, and lobbying extensively for the [[Institutionalisation|institutionalization]] of forest conservation activities in [[British India]] through the establishment of [[Indian Forest Service|Forest Departments]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Stebbing |first=E.P |author-link=Edward Percy Stebbing |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9cAHAQAAIAAJ |title=The Forests of India |year=1922 |volume=1 |pages=72–81 |access-date=6 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210527120035/https://books.google.com/books?id=9cAHAQAAIAAJ |archive-date=27 May 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref>

The [[Madras]] Board of Revenue started local conservation efforts in 1842, headed by [[Alexander Gibson (botanist)|Alexander Gibson]], a professional [[botany|botanist]] who systematically adopted a forest conservation programme based on scientific principles. This was the first case of state management of forests in the world.<ref>{{cite book |last=Barton |first=Greg |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WDYlNljAP5AC |title=Empire Forestry and the Origins of Environmentalism |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2002 |isbn=9781139434607 |page=48 |access-date=6 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210527120034/https://books.google.com/books?id=WDYlNljAP5AC |archive-date=27 May 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref> Eventually, the government under [[Governor-General of India|Governor-General]] [[James Broun-Ramsay, 1st Marquess of Dalhousie|Lord Dalhousie]] introduced the first permanent and large-scale forest conservation programme in the world in 1855, a model that soon spread to [[British empire|other colonies]], as well as the [[United States]]. In 1860, the Department banned the use of [[shifting cultivation]].<ref>{{cite news |last=MUTHIAH |first=S. |date=5 November 2007 |title=A life for forestry |url=http://www.hindu.com/mp/2007/11/05/stories/2007110550080500.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071108213227/http://www.hindu.com/mp/2007/11/05/stories/2007110550080500.htm |archive-date=8 November 2007 |access-date=9 March 2009 |work=[[The Hindu]] |location=Chennai, India}}</ref> [[Hugh Francis Cleghorn|Hugh Cleghorn]]'s 1861 manual, ''The forests and gardens of South India'', became the definitive work on the subject and was widely used by forest assistants in the subcontinent.<ref name="Cleghorn">{{cite book |last=Cleghorn |first=Hugh Francis Clarke |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_ZbC9FY1JqIC |title=The Forests and Gardens of South India |publisher=W. H. Allen |year=1861 |location=London |oclc=301345427 |access-date=16 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200315024455/https://books.google.com/books?id=_ZbC9FY1JqIC&hl=en |archive-date=15 March 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Oliver |first=J.W. |title=The Indian Forester |publisher=R. P. Sharma |year=1901 |volume=27 |location=Allahabad |pages=617–623 |chapter=Forestry in India |access-date=27 October 2020 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2U8YAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA623 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230408122919/https://books.google.com/books?id=2U8YAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA623 |archive-date=8 April 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Dietrich Brandis]] joined the British service in 1856 as superintendent of the teak forests of Pegu division in eastern [[Myanmar|Burma]]. During that time Burma's [[teak]] forests were controlled by militant [[Karen people|Karen]] tribals. He introduced the "taungya" system,<ref>{{cite book |last1=King |first1=KFS |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=44smPw8a594C |title=Agro-silviculture (the taungya system) |publisher=University of Ibadan / Dept. of Forestry |year=1968 |series=Bulletin no. 1 |access-date=6 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210527120037/https://books.google.com/books?id=44smPw8a594C |archive-date=27 May 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref> in which Karen villagers provided labour for clearing, planting, and weeding teak plantations. Also, he formulated new forest legislation and helped establish research and training institutions. Brandis as well as founded the Imperial Forestry School at Dehradun.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Weil |first1=Benjamin |year=2006 |title=Conservation, Exploitation, and Cultural Change in the Indian Forest Service, 1875–1927 |journal=Environmental History |volume=11 |issue=2 |pages=319–343 |doi=10.1093/envhis/11.2.319 |jstor=3986234}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Gadgil |first1=Madhav |author-link1=Madhav Gadgil |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Jmr9n7aoRR4C |title=This Fissured Land: An Ecological History of India |last2=Guha |first2=Ramachandra |author-link2=Ramachandra Guha |publisher=University of California Press |year=1993 |isbn=9780520082960 |access-date=6 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210527120036/https://books.google.com/books?id=Jmr9n7aoRR4C |archive-date=27 May 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref>