Biodiversity Conservation and the Eradication of Poverty

Abstract

It is widely accepted that biodiversity loss and poverty are linked problems and that conservation and poverty reduction should be tackled together. However, success with integrated strategies is elusive. There is sharp debate about the social impacts of conservation programs and the success of community-based approaches to conservation. Clear conceptual frameworks are needed if policies in these two areas are to be combined. We review the links between poverty alleviation and biodiversity conservation and present a conceptual typology of these relationships.

Economic Development, Rural livelihoods, and Ecological Restoration: Evidence from China

“…In reality, most projects that seek to integrate conservation and development tend to be too ambitious (Brown 2003;Adam et al 2004), and success with integrated strategies is elusive (Adam et al 2004). A recent report of World Bank projects focusing on the integration of poverty reduction and biodiversity conservation revealed that only 16% made major progress on both objectives (Tallis et al 2008).…”

Poverty, development, and Himalayan ecosystems

“…Two key factors that affect equitable and sustainable development are as follows: (i) failure to simultaneously address economic and environmental problems in the developing world (Adams et al 2004) and (ii) lack of an ecosystem services approach and a network that can provide strategic directions to address poverty and environmental degradation (Perrings et al 2011). …”

“…Since extreme poverty and biodiversity hotspots are generally co-located, any intervention to alleviate poverty and address biodiversity loss requires understanding of the dynamics of ecosystem services on which livelihood of local communities depend (Adams et al 2004;DeClerck et al 2006;Barrett et al 2011). (Cohen 2010).…”

“…This situation might be due to misappropriation of the funds, mismatch of priorities, or simply lack of political will (Strange and Bayley 2008). Global development organizations that aim to fight poverty and address environment or biodiversity conservation mostly follow development models based only on economic growth (Adams et al 2004). They assume that environmental realization will follow.…”

“…With global challenges such as population growth, doubling of food demand by 2050, and loss of ecosystem services, it has become urgent to integrate poverty alleviation and environment protection in biodiversity-rich regions (Adams et al 2004;Bawa et al 2008;Butchart et al 2010;UN 2012;Fisher et al 2013;Zhang et al 2013;Wratten et al 2013). Global efforts to address poverty and environmental degradation are led by the United Nations-through setting the millennium development goals (MDGs) (UN 2000).…”