International precepts versus local knowledge as bases of planning for sustainable development: methodological choices of Pakistan's national conservation strategy

This paper explores the relative roles of universal models and local knowledge in the conceptual framework of Pakistan's Conservation Strategy. The domination of universal models over historical and institutional factors in the methodology of the strategy is demonstrated through a critical analysis of its contents. From this “case study”, a number of methodological issues relating to the knowledge-base of planning or policy-making exercises in the Third World have been identified. The relevance and effectiveness of planning or policy-making partially depend on choices made on these methodological issues. An approach of particularising the universals and grounding analysis in institutional realities is proposed as the basis of the planning process.