Poverty alleviation

Poverty has become the central concern for development agencies, and because many of the areas that are most important for conserving biodiversity are occupied by poor people, or have poor people living around them, the relationship between poverty and protected areas can no longer be ignored. It is a complex one, but this book presents a balanced perspective on how protected areas relate to poverty, in both positive and negative ways.

In this report, focus has been given to a range of related themes. It examines the household situation with regard to accessing different types of food, and sheds light on inequality pervading the households, perceived in terms of their control over resources such as land or food. It also gives information on the access to different elements of nutrition required for basic needs.

IUCN worked together with IUED on this new publication which aims at providing a better understanding of the links between conservation of natural resources and poverty reduction.

Despite endorsements of the concept of sustainable development and the linking of sustainable development with the Millennium Development Goals, progress towards the eradication of poverty has been disappointing. The underlying principles of sustainable development need to be more critically and actively applied to both poverty reduction and biodiversity conservation.