Biodiversity Conservation and Local Development Aspirations: New Priorities for the 1990s

Abstract

Reconciling economic development with biodiversity conservation has become one of the most important elements in the search for sustainable development. This problem is particularly acute in remote rural areas of developing countries where biodiversity is concentrated and where poverty tends to be pervasive. Facing a range of development crises with limited public funds, most developing countries have invested little in biodiversity conservation. Partly as a result, fragile and unique ecosystems are being degraded or converted to agricultural use on a large scale. This trend is exacerbated by policies which encourage land conversion and resource overexploitation, as well as a lack of information about the economic value of biodiversity conservation.

This chapter is based on ideas developed during the author’s studies for the World Bank’s Environment Department and for the World Environment and Resources Program of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, although the views expressed should not be attributed to either organisation. A considerable debt is owed to discussions over several years with many people but especially Katrina Brandon, Gloria Davis, John Dixon, Jeff McNeely, Alison Richard, Jeff Sayer, Mingma Norbu Sherpa and Michael Wright. None of these should be held responsible for the result.