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HUMAN WELFARE AND POVERTY IN THE HOTSPOTS
About 25% of the more than 1.3 billion people living in the biodiversity hotspots and tropical wilderness areas survive on less than one dollar each day. At the same time, the rural and urban poor living throughout hotspots rely on the basic services of ecological systems -- clean air and fresh water -- to survive. The rural poor in particular rely on healthy ecosystems for sustenance, harvesting wild plants and animals for food, fuel, clothing, medicine, and shelter. Conserving biodiversity in the hotspots is essential for maintaining the abilities of local economies to harvest resources at sustainable levels. | |
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The causes of rural poverty and resource depletion, and the interventions needed to address them, are complex and often interrelated. HDP research brings development and conservation perspectives together by drawing on development theory to understand the links between poverty, inequality, and policies in key conservation contexts. The scope of program research ranges from analysis of national-level policies and reforms to community-level livelihoods and resource use.
Eliminating or rearranging the policies, practices, and institutions that underlie rural sector degradation is a key ingredient to successful conservation. HDP research is demonstrating this by showing that Amazonian deforestation rates vary regionally, changing according to macroeconomic policy and local social factors, all of which need to be taken into account when designing rural credit programs or building new roads. HDP researchers build on such findings and work with CI field programs, as well as local and national governments, to implement changes that benefit the poor as well as biodiversity.
Download the HDP brochure "People, Poverty, and Biodiversity".
To bring more attention to the key roles of policies and institutions, HDP has worked with other conservation organizations, HDP has started a Distinguished Lecturer series that features experts on agricultural and rural development, food security, and poverty reduction. The series is energizing the discussion on these topics, and creating a forum for constructive dialogue on political and institutional issues.
RELATED PUBLICATIONS
Barrett, C. B., Brandon, K., Gibson, C., and H. Gjertsen. 2001. Conserving tropical biodiversity amid weak institutions. BioScience 51(6): 497-502.
Pimm, S.L., Ayres, M., Balmford, A., Branch, G., Brandon, K., Brooks, T., Bustamante, R., Costanza, R., Cowling, R., Curran, L., Dobson, A., Farber, S., da Fonseca, G.A.B., Gascon, C., Kitching, R., McNeely, J., Lovejoy, T., Mittermeier, R.A., Myers, N., Patz, J.A., Raffle, B., Rapport, D., Raven, P., Roberts, C., Rodriguez, J.P., Rylands, A.B., Tucker, C., Safina, Samper, C., Stiassny, M.L.J., Supriatna, J., Wall, D. H., Wilcove, D. 2001. Can We Defy Nature's End? Science 293(5538): 2207-2208. | |
| |  | | New Presentations on Hydrological Services Available Online: Sampurno Bruijnzeel, tropical hydrology expert, talks about vegetation, reforestation, and hydrological services in two CI-sponsored presentations.
Oct. 16 presentation at the World Bank (8 MB PDF)
Oct. 17 presentation at CI (7.2 MB PDF)New CABS Brochure Now Available: Click here to view the latest CABS brochure. Contact us to order a hard copy. The Environmental Systems Research Institute Awards CABS’ GIS & Mapping Lab: The Institute honored the Lab for the fifth time in six years, awarding it First Place in the Best Cartographic Design - Single Map Product category for the Coppename River AquaRAP by Mark Denil.
View the winning map Hotspots Revisited Available Online. Hotspots Revisited details the state of the earth's biodiversity hotspots. The book identifies 34 regions that cover only 2.3 percent of the Earth's surface but are home to 75 percent of the planet's most threatened species.
View Hotspots Revisited | |
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