Do the voices of the local people really count when sustainable development is being built? : A study about the importance of the local people and the collaboration between the local organisations and WWF

The ambition in this study is to acknowledge the importance of involving local people in sustainable development work. Also to emphasize the great value of collaboration between global organisations, grassroots organisations and local people in the progress of development work. The method being used in this thesis is mainly semi-structured interviews with six representatives from four different non-governmental organisations, NGOs. Two of these organisations have a more environmental and conservation purpose while the other two focus more on the human perspective as they are working with empowerment, education and food security.The area that I have chosen for this research is called Nilgiris which is located in south India. In this research I focused on World Wildlife Fund, WWF, as a global organisation and the purpose is to see whether or not they collaborate with some of the local grassroots organisations in the area. Local organisations generally have good contact with the local people so I consider them as a link between the global organisation and the local people. The theories I have used are a theory of sustainable development, which argues that none of the three approaches, economic, environmental or social can be excluded when sustainable development is pursued. I have also focused on Participatory Rural Appraisal, PRA, this theory is underlying the importance of the local people’s involvement and that organisations must trust the local people’s capacity. The third theory for this research is three interpretations of environment. The conclusion is that co-operation between the global and local organisations are essential in the process of making good sustainable development. The local people that are being affected and emerged in various development projects need to be involved and informed about the project´s aim for the projects to be successful