Dear Readers,

The transfer of environmentally sound technologies is crucial to sustainable development. If decision-makers do not dispose of relevant knowledge and only have insufficient access to information on technologies, they will tend to resort to options detrimental to the environment.

This state of affairs, which above all prevails in developing and newly industrialising countries, has a serious impact on international moves to protect the global environment. And at national level, it poses a threat to sustainability of development efforts.

South East Asia is in a special situation in this respect. While rapid industrial development in the tiger economies has not been accompanied by an across-the-board attempt to tackle ecological issues, there are a number of initiatives al local and regional level that promise to act as motors of environmental awareness by providing the all-essential ingredient of information.

RISE-AT, based at Chiang-Mai University in northern Thailand, focuses on appropriate technology in five main areas. With its Q &A service and its new documentation centre, RISE-AT bids fair to become a regional development factor. ATA and CORE are two further organisations working in this context. TIS, another Thai organisation, provides regular information services on renewable energy the environment and biotechnology to over 100 countries. And in the Philippines, SIBAT is performing the role of a counter-balance to an official agricultural policy bent on intensified cash crop cultivation. There are other examples in the region.
Michael Gardner