The fact is that Malthus was right...human population growth is exponential. Two tend to breed four who tend to breed sixteen and so on, while the harvesting of resources progresses at a much slower rate. Where population growth is most out of control, and where (ironically) a large family is most valued from a cultural standpoint, tends to be in the very areas where resources are most limited- the Third World. China has taken a top down approach, mandating a maximum of 2 children per family. In Europe and North America, the approach has been bottom-up, but has also worked effectively to lower the birthrates. There is no doubt that such approaches should be applied to other areas such as the horn of Africa, where farms of 3/4 acre and smaller are food sources for average families of 8 individuals. In such situations, and in the absence of resource protection and/or population control, something has to give. What gave in Rwanda was genocide and mass exterminations.
But the harvesting of resources can be examined as a separate issue. American farms are 20 times more productive on a per-acre basis than they were 100 years ago, due to changes in crop selection and rotation strategies. Chevron extracts oil in Papua New Guinea using a low-impact strategy that has allowed its production areas to become effective wildlife and timber preserves. The timber companies in the American southeast use silviculture methods that allow continuous harvesting without deforestation.
Such strategies indicate a way forward. And for us to make no distinction between a Chevron Corporation which minimally impacts the environment and a Rimbunan Hijau Corporation which clear-cuts and destroys the natural environment, does companies like Chevron who ARE adopting clean resource management methods a great disservice. We should boycott and apply pressure aginst the bandit corporations, and support the efforts of the good ones with our consumer dollars.