A useful approach to explore linkages between development (people) and conservation (nature) is through the use of poverty-conservation mapping. Although poverty-environment mapping in biodiversity applications has been limited, there are numerous potential applications that are of use to IUCN and its members. Such applications range from substantiating the key role of biological resources in food security to improving geographic targeting of pro-poor ecosystem management.

This paper lays out a set of strategies to promote forest conservation in ways that positively contribute to local livelihoods and community development in low- and middle-income countries. The authors fully recognize the critical importance of the “safety net” functions of forests for the poor. But they also identify specific market niches where large numbers of low-income producers have, or could develop, a competitive market advantage.

This analytical study seeks to explore the state of knowledge on the links between poverty, health, and environment, and better understand issues of governance, rights, and responsibilities as fundamental links between conservation and human well-being.

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This report discusses the value of interfacing poverty and the environment for sustainable development. Highlighting the innovative practices of communities and local partnerships, it details how poverty concerns are critical for long-term conservation success. Also explored is how the environment and natural resource management can be integrated into all of the Millennium Development Goals.

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Understanding the interrelationship between dynamic ecological and economic processes is a daunting but important challenge. Both require significant investment in assets, technologies, market and nonmarket allocation mechanisms and risk management capacity.

This presentation defines "poverty traps" as poverty spells that persist for long periods. In relating it to livelihood strategies, it presents examples from Côte d’Ivoire, Rwanda, and Ethiopia.

Poverty alleviation and biodiversity conservation are basic social goals and part of the policy agenda of postcolonial states and international agencies. It is not surprising therefore that a large number of programmatic interventions have aimed to achieve the two goals at the same time. These interventions are funded by governments, conservation NGOs, bilateral and multilateral donor agencies, and private sector organizations.

Agriculture practices in countries around the world have multiple and enduring impacts on the environment and on biodiversity conservation. Agriculture is one of the most widely-spread productive activities, using nearly 40% of the earth’s land surface, providing sustenance for us all and generating direct employment or livelihoods for the vast majority of rural dwellers worldwide. As a result, agriculture occupies a central place in the quest for economic betterment for a large proportion of the people who are poor and live in rural areas.

National governments around the globe have committed themselves to work to conserve and promote the sustainable use of biological diversity, e.g. in the UN Convention on Biological Diversity of 1992 protected areas constitute an important element in efforts to meet this commitment. Often, however, the declaration of protected areas is met with local opposition. The response during the last decades has been to seek local support for conservation through so-called Integrated Conservation and Development (ICD) projects.

This project's environment objectives can be summarized as the long term conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity in the protected areas and buffer zones of the Eastern Steppe of Mongolia, and incorporation of biodiversity considerations into sustainable development of the Eastern Steppe.

Conventional wisdom holds that modern farming is largely incompatible with wildlife conservation, effective watershed protection, and other key ecosystem services. Thus environmental policies have typically relied on land use segregation, establishing protected areas from which agriculture is officially excluded. However, this strategy is not viable in many parts of the world, particularly those with high rural population density, rural poverty and dependence on farming.