Elliott, Joanna

As a contribution to clarifying the contested claims, IIED, UNEP-WCMC and the African Wildlife Foundation organised a symposium in April 2010. The purpose of the symposium was to explore the current state of knowledge and the evidence base for claims and counter-claims, in order to better understand what is assumption rather than fact.

In the last decade biodiversity loss and persistent poverty in developing countries have been recognised as major international problems that require urgent attention. However, the nature and scale of the links between these two problems, and between efforts to address them, has been the subject of much heated debate. Understanding the different elements of this debate is critical for the move towards constructive solutions.