The concept that abundant natural resources can actually be detrimental to a country's economic development is counter intuitive. It would seem that the harvest and sale of natural resources would be an overall economic benefit. However, it has been shown in many cases that in economic dependence on large-scale exportation of natural resources can actual hinder a country's ability to thrive. The concept and case studies are pretty easy to find, and I'm no economist, so I won't get into that much here. But I am an ecologist and it doesn't take much more than talking to local fisherman and looking at the surrounding hillsides in the Bio Bio region of Chile to understand that excessive natural resource extraction is not ecologically sustainable.
Mining is king in Chile and the major environmental impacts of extraction have well documented. Here in Bio Bio the issues are fishing and forestry.
This many boats tied up idle at the dock is never a good sign for the state of a fishery. Sardine, anchovy, and jack mackerel stocks are depleted to the point that it's not even worth taking your boat out.
On virtually every hillside the native trees have been completely removed. Non-native eucalyptus and Monterrey pine now stand in neat rows sucking up outrageous amounts of water and nutrients.
If it's not ecologically OR economically sustainable it's a very short sighted vision and truly is a curse.
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