Conserving global biological diversity by encouraging alternative development paths: can development coexist with diversity?

The conservation of biological diversity concerns the management of the development process, not only at the national but also at the global level. Individual countries have made their development choices independently but relatedly, too often following the precise form of the choices of other countries preceding them in the development process. Development via imitation is pursuing the form, rather than the substance of a successful development strategy. Countries should instead be developing upon a base of assets that provides them with a relatively unique set of goods and services to place upon global markets. When the first countries developed, this criterion indicated that they should convert their countries to new forms of production; when the last countries are developing, relatively unique goods and services flow from their lands as they stand. What is required is the development of global institutions that encourage countries to see that their best development opportunities lie down these alternative development pathways, based upon their already-existing but relatively unique national assets.