Country Comments

Venezuela in 2007 crossed over from having a natural resource reserve to a deficit due to both an increase in the standard of living and population growth. In the past decade with the country in an economic freefall under President Maduro a staggering 15-20 percent of the population has escaped the country in search of food, jobs, education and a more stable future. This emigration has been a tragedy for its people. However it has had the unintended consequence of reversing the path and trajectory of unsustainability for the country.

MongaBay reports from 2011 onward, as the nation spiraled into economic and social chaos, environmental statistics began disappearing from the Web, and being unavailable to the public, scientific researchers and activists. Some of these sensitive areas included information on sewage, oil, urban and industrial pollution, deforestation, soil degradation and threats to the rainforest ecosystem from irresponsible mining operations. (1)

What will be interesting to observe in the ensuing decade is with the retraction in economic activity, mass emigration and fewer people putting pressure on the environment, how much nature and biodiversity will bounce back and for how long Venezuela can remain sustainable.

(1) https://news.mongabay.com/2019/10/venezuelan-crisis-government-censors-environmental-and-scientific-data/