The International Institute for Environment and Development has just published three short publications on biodiversity. Here are the summaries and links for you to download the book you are interested in.
1. CONSERVATION ENTERPRISE: WHAT WORKS, WHERE AND FOR WHOM?
Summary: Community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) recognises that local communities are often best placed to conserve natural resources, as long as they stand to gain more than they lose from doing so. Conservation enterprises—commercial activities generating economic and social benefits in ways that help meet conservation objectives—seek to reinforce these incentives. The African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) has adopted conservation enterprise as a core part of its conservation strategy since the 1990s. It predominantly supports partnerships between local communities and the private sector, with the community retaining ownership and the private sector providing the management expertise and paying a combination of fixed and variable fees to the community for access to its resources. This study draws on the experience of the AWF and other organisations to assess what effect conservation enterprises can have on the livelihoods of local communities and how effective such initiatives are at poverty reduction. It finds that most of these enterprises cannot by themselves take people out of poverty, but can provide less tangible benefits, such as increased investment in health and education, strengthened community organisations and greater resilience in difficult times. A successful conservation enterprise needs to strike a balance between harnessing local skills and entrepreneurship and ensuring that the benefits are felt by the entire local community, particularly those who make the decisions about resource use. Some programmes can be specifically targeted at particular groups, but enterprises providing employment tend not to favour the poorest community members and the benefits may be captured by local elites. The evidence also shows that well-designed conservation enterprises can improve the conservation of some types of land areas and key, high value species—such as mountain gorillas—but are less effective at conserving biodiversity with a lower market value. Download the paper from http://pubs.iied.org/14613IIED.html
2. POVERTY, BIODIVERSITY AND LOCAL ORGANISATIONS: LESSONS FROM BIRDLIFE INTERNATIONAL
Summary: Global targets to reduce the rate of biodiversity loss significantly by 2010 have not been met, and the rate of biodiversity loss does not appear to be slowing. At the same time, targets to reduce human poverty worldwide are also off track. This dual challenge has led to a search for effective mechanisms and entry points through which conservation and development objectives can be addressed together. Both conservation and development sectors, within their own sphere of interest, have advocated the importance of local participation and also of partnership between conservation agencies and local people. This paper discusses why working with local organisations can be an important entry point for conservation and poverty reduction, describes the global experience of BirdLife International in this context, and concludes with a discussion, based on BirdLife’s experience, of some of the issues and constraints which need to be taken into account when addressing conservation and poverty reduction through working with local organisations. Three examples, one from South America (Bolivia) one from Africa (Uganda) and one from Asia (Nepal), help to illustrate how BirdLife’s partners have worked with local organisations as an entry point to achieving conservation and poverty reduction. These examples, and BirdLife International’s very rich experience in this approach worldwide, reveal that working in partnership with local organisations ensures that environment and poverty are addressed in a more holistic way, as experienced and understood by local people. It also has benefits in terms of sustainability, efficiency, legitimacy and respect for rights. However, it needs to
be part of a broader strategy, particularly one which addresses drivers and root causes of poverty and biodiversity loss at larger scales. Linking local organisations to national and international networks can help to ensure that local voices are heard in such forums.
Download the paper from http://pubs.iied.org/14614IIED.html Contact David.Thomas@birdlife.org
3. BIODIVERSITY AND POVERTY: TEN FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS – TEN POLICY IMPLICATIONS
Summary: This paper is intended to stimulate discussion about the linkages between biodiversity, conservation and poverty reduction. What do we know, what do we not know, and what do we need to know? These ten questions provide a quick—hence simplistic—insight into a complicated and convoluted issue. We would therefore be very interested in your feedback. Are these the right questions? And the right answers? What else should we be asking—and trying to answer—to better understand (and enhance) the biodiversity-poverty relationship? Please send your ideas to pclg@iied.org. Download the paper from http://pubs.iied.org/14612IIED.html
For more information about IIED’s work on the links between biodiversity, conservation and poverty, please contact Dilys Roe (dilys.roe@iied.org)