Joint Statement by Environmental Community at UN World Summit
An Environmental Community Call to Jointly Address Poverty and the Environment
New York, NY—September 14, 2005—The environmental community believes that protecting the world’s ecosystems and their component species is vital to human well-being, particularly the impoverished who are the most vulnerable to environmental disasters such as floods, hurricanes, landslides, disease and water pollution.
Through on-the-ground relationships with local peoples, indigenous communities and those seeking solutions to our common concerns, we understand the critical need to integrate conservation and development efforts.
For example:
- In Costa Rica, Environment Minister Carlos Manuel Rodriguez pioneered protection of marine assets to ensure continued benefits for his nation’s economy and those who depend on the ocean for livelihoods. He also intends to increase forest cover to 75 percent of the country in 10 years through a combination of biodiversity conservation and poverty alleviation.
- In Nepal, communities in the Terai Arc conserving wildlife through forestry projects have benefited from access to forest resources including fuel, food, building materials, agricultural and household tools, and medicines. Conservation has brought them diversified economic activity, strengthened resource management, and improved infrastructure including health care centers and schools.
- In Cameroon, the people of Mount Oku have adopted sustainable community forest management programs that have strengthened their livelihoods and allowed their forests to regenerate.
- In Brazil, the Mamiraua Biosphere Reserve exemplifies how to conserve wildlife while boosting the quality of life and economic development of local villages. The co-management of 5 million hectares of national park by the government and local communities has helped bring an endowment for the park and assist indigenous people in sustainably managing the Amazon floodplain.
- In Indonesia, a partnership involving Komodo National Park engages the public sector, private industry, local communities with international organizations to create an integrated mosaic of protected and productive landscapes and seascapes that contribute to reducing poverty, improving human well-being, and increasing economic stability.
As those standing in your midst can testify, conservation work is crucial to sustainable development. Therefore:
- We commit to demonstrating that biodiversity conservation contributes to human well-being, and that to be truly sustainable, our efforts must improve human well-being, empower communities, and create new opportunities to increase incomes while strengthening the natural resource base;
- We renew our commitment to work with indigenous and local communities, and respect local knowledge in pursuit of the common goal of protecting the environments on which they depend;
- We pledge to work within our missions to address the root causes that lead jointly to poverty and ecological disruption.
We invite our colleagues in the broader development community to make a similar acknowledgement – that alleviating poverty in a lasting manner is fundamentally linked to investing in environmental sustainability and to accounting for the actual value of ecosystem services.
After all, creating a better life for present and future generations is an objective we all share.
For More Information:
- Press Release: Statements by Nature Conservancy President Steve McCormick at 2005 UN World Summit Gala Dinner
The Nature Conservancy is committed to helping governments, businesses, communities, development organizations and other partners create a world where Earth’s natural systems are conserved and managed to create a lasting, sustainable future for people and for nature.
- Press Release: Remarks by Steve McCormick for the Launch of Where is the Wealth of Nations? book at UN World Summit
Where is the Wealth of Nations substantiates the realization that if we can’t get a handle on the deconstruction of natural systems, then we will seriously jeopardize our efforts to make lasting, substantial progress on improving the standard of living of the world's poorest people.
- Our Partners: Indigenous People
Effective conservation cannot be achieved unless the people who live and rely on those lands are an integral part of the conservation process. For more than 50 years, The Nature Conservancy has depended upon partnerships with local communities to conserve some of the most biologically critical and threatened ecosystems on Earth.
- Where We Work: Costa Rica, Brazil, Indonesia
The Nature Conservancy works in all 50 United States and 27 countries, protected more than 117 million acres of land and 5,000 miles of river around the world. Learn more about where we work.
- Places We Protect: Komodo National Park
Although famous for its unique land-dwelling Komodo dragons, Komodo National Park features one of the world's most biologically diverse marine environments.
- Places We Protect: Noel Kempff Mercado National Park
Through a unique partnership with the Government of Bolivia, Fundación Amigos de la Naturaleza (FAN) and three U.S. energy companies, this Nature Conservancy climate action project is helping protect 1.5 million acres of Noel Kempff Mercado National Park, one of the most biologically diverse areas in the world.
- How We Work: Debt-for-Nature Swaps
Debt-for-nature swaps create a link between a country's external debt and financing for biodiversity conservation. Working with partners, The Nature Conservancy has helped to facilitate debt-for-nature swaps in many countries, including Jamaica, Panama, and Peru.
- How We Work: The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA)
The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment is the largest mobilization ever to assess the current state of the world’s ecosystems, and the services they provide to support life on Earth.
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