Enhancing positive linkages to economic development

Historically, increasing economic growth and human well-being have caused biodiversity loss. This relationship shows a consistent pattern: initially, increased human well-being causes biodiversity loss. However, if biodiversity falls below a critical level, human well-being starts to decline as well. To reduce the future rate of biodiversity loss, economic growth must be decoupled from environmental pressures and expanding land use.

People that are affected by biodiversity loss are not always the ones that have caused the problem

Poor people, in particular, suffer from the depletion of biodiversity because it is an essential part of their livelihoods

Policies can combine rural economic development with the conservation and management of biodiversity. It is possible for rural economic development to go hand in hand with biodiversity restoration in local situations, but this often depends on external support . To deal with this problem, effective policy arrangements are required at a higher level of governance.

• Relations between poverty and biodiversity follow a pattern

• Win–win situations of poverty reduction and biodiversity restoration can be found

Three mechanisms on linkages between poverty and biodiversity

When designing strategies to link economic development with biodiversity conservation, it is useful to distinguish between three poverty–biodiversity mechanisms:

1. Driven by capital. Agricultural exports do not always stimulate local development. The decline in biodiversity quality and access is not compensated by a proportionate increase in human well-being, which lags behind the growth in agricultural exports. This is especially the case in border regions with a booming commodity development. Read more

2. Driven by policy. For many poor people, biodiversity is used as a safety net against environmental shocks, climate change or market failures. Guaranteed access to biodiversity is important for the poor, and they should benefit from adequate policies. Read more

3. Driven by poverty. Local people become vulnerable when the quality of ecosystem services has been degraded by overexploitation of ecosystems. Instead, positive linkages could be created by giving local people responsibilities to help manage the resources on which they depend, and where new technology makes production more sustainable. Read more

 

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