Others cause less damage to areas of high social or cultural value

Every company must avoid encroaching on areas of high social or cultural value, to live up to the Break-Even Goals. Here we consider actions which go beyond this.

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About this Positive Pursuit

A significant number of designated cultural World Heritage Sites are under threat. In many cases, these important examples of human creative genius, cultural traditions, outstanding architecture or settlements are being damaged by human activities.

Furthermore, growing demand for land has increased the practice of land grabbing: large-scale land acquisitions made by nations, investors and businesses, often in areas with weak governance structures that allow land to be secured quickly and cheaply. This is putting the health and livelihoods of some of the world’s poorest communities at risk.

Others cause less damage to areas of social and cultural value when:

Areas of social or cultural importance are protected; or
Land grabbing practices are avoided by establishing people’s traditional or customary rights to use, manage and control land, fisheries and forests.

This Positive Pursuit encompasses any action which achieves such an outcome.

Why it’s needed

Human activities are destroying sites of cultural importance.
Recent conflict in across the Middle East has endangered cultural World Heritage Sites, such as the Ancient Cities of Damascus and Aleppo in Syria and the cultural landscape of the Bamiyan Valley in Afghanistan.
An explosion of mass tourism is putting the very sites that draw visitors at risk.
Iconic sites such as Macchu Piccu, Peru and Angkor Wat, Cambodia have had to resort to capping tourist numbers and dramatically raising ticket prices to deter vast numbers of visitors which have put incredible stress on the ancient monuments.
Land grabbing is widespread and growing.
More than 1600 large-scale land deals have been documented since 2000, targeting over 60 million hectares - an area larger than Spain, Germany or Kenya.

SDGs this will contribute to

2. Zero hunger
Hundreds of millions of people today go hungry, while unsustainable farming practices degrade soil quality, use too much water, reduce biodiversity, and put rural communities under pressure.
Learn more about SDG 2
11. Sustainable cities and communities
Half of humanity now lives in cities, and the number is increasing. For cities to thrive we must address the pressures that rapid urbanization is placing on freshwater, infrastructure, air quality and people’s health.
Learn more about SDG 11
15. Life on land
Land degradation, deforestation and desertification - caused by human activities and climate change - pose big challenges to sustainable development and undermine the livelihoods of millions of people.
Learn more about SDG 15