Marginal locations need an integrated approach

Certain regions of the world are at such a disadvantage with respect to their endowment with natural resources that they can be considered marginal locations in terms of settlement and utilization of resources. This includes semiarid and arid regions with no means of irrigation, highland and mountain regions with little precipitation, but also areas with unfavourable transport facilities. Usually the whole system is quite unstable and offers little resistance to human intervention; sometimes, however, the system also shows great powers of regeneration, if the damage has not progressed too far.
The people in these areas have learned to live with their environment. In our modern age, a long-existing "sustainability", i.e., the utilization of resources within the framework of the ecologically determined utilization potential, has been violated due to population growth and pressure to increase production using means that are no longer ecologically sound, which often results in the destruction of resources. The ecological carrying capacity of these areas is no longer adequate for the existing population, and it is hardly possible for the inhabitants to take part in the general economic development.
What can be done here? How can the people in these areas be helped to raise their income and increase their opportunities? Four strategies can be applied: