Integrating Ecology and Poverty

Reduction:

The Ecological Dimensions of Poverty

and Applications of Ecology for

Development SolutionsJane Carter Ingram, Lead, Ecosystem Services,

Wildlife Conservation Society, email:cingram@wcs.org

with

Fabrice DeClerck, CATIE (now at Bioversity) and

Cristina Rumbaitis del Rio, Rockefeller Foundation

Integrating Ecology and Poverty ReductionEdited by Jane Carter Ingram, Wildlife Conservation Society, Fabrice

DeClerck, CATIE (now at Bioversity) and Cristina Rumbaitis del Rio,

Rockefeller Foundation

Foreword by Professor Jeffrey D. Sachs

Volume 1:

•Hunger

•Human Health

Volume 2:

•Education

•Gender•Human Health

•Water

•Energy

•Climate Change

and Disasters

•Gender

•Demographic

transitions

•Markets

•Governance

Ecological Theory and Tools for Identifying

and Managing Synergies and Tradeoffs, and

Avoiding Unintended Consequences

From Smukler et al., Chapter 3, Volume 1

High in

protein

Ecological Theory and Tools for Understanding the

Nutritional Value of a Landscape

Remans et al. , Chapter 4, Volume 1

High in

Carbohydrates

High in Vitamin c

Ecological Theory and Tools for Understanding and

Managing Disaster Regulation Functions

From Ingram and Khazai, Chapter 22, Volume 1

Applying Ecological Science for Development:

Understanding Social, Economic,

and Political Contexts

Gutierrez-Montes et al. , Chapter 4, Volume 2

Applying Ecological Science for Development:

Income Generation through Payments for

Ecosystem Services

Sachedina and Nelson, Chapter 12, Volume 2

Summary: Ecological Dimensions of Poverty

• Ecological science and tools have traditionally not contributed substantially to poverty reduction efforts

• Ecological knowledge, theory, and tools have enormous, under-used potential for contributing to achieving multiple development goals

• Ecology can highlight the tradeoffs and unintended consequences that may happen as a result of siloeddecisions

• By understanding synergies among different components in an ecosystem, ecology can help identify cost-effective approaches for achieving multiple development goals

Summary: Applications of Ecology in

Development Solutions

• Ecologists and the science they conduct have to be viewed as objective

• Ecologists must understand the prevailing social, economic, and political contexts in which they are working

• Ecological research has to be conducted at the scale of the • Ecological research has to be conducted at the scale of the development problem and decision making, acknowledging that human-environment interactions may change across scales

• Collaboration with other disciplines in the development field (i.e. engineers, hazard mitigation specialists, gender experts, etc.) is critical for effectively applying ecology outside of conservation realms

• New ways of thinking about people and their interactions with the natural world are critical for informing ecologically sustainable development

Thank you!