This article concerns itself with two problems in developing countries: human development and biodiversity. Apparently they are conflicting objectives, and more so in the protected areas of the developing countries, where the poor have to depend on forest resources for their survival.

Conflict among water users is a part of the history of the American West. They are continuing even today, with modifications in their characteristics, and with more complicated concerns. The conflicts typically involve historical patterns of use by irrigated agriculture on the one hand and increasing needs for urban and environmental uses on the other hand.

The worldwide paradigm shift in river basin management has not affected policymakers in south Asia. Hydro-diplomacy in the Ganges-Brahmaputra- Meghna basin is still based on reductionist engineering, and looks at marginal economic benefits, without showing any concern for the long-run implications for livelihoods and ecosystem.