Ecosystem services and poverty alleviation: a review of the empirical links
Date
2015
Authors
Suich, Helen
Howe, Caroline
Mace, Georgina
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Publisher
Elsevier
Abstract
We present the results of a review of the empirical evidence and of the state of knowledge regarding the
mechanisms linking ecosystem services and poverty alleviation. The review was undertaken to
determine the state of current knowledge about the scale and nature of these linkages, and focus the
future research agenda. Research has, to date, focussed largely on provisioning services, and on just two
poverty dimensions concerning income and assets, and food security and nutrition. While many papers
describe links between ecosystem services and dimensions of poverty, few provide sufficient context to
enable a thorough understanding of the poverty alleviation impacts (positive or negative), if any. These
papers contribute to the accumulating evidence that ecosystem services support well-being, and
perhaps prevent people becoming poorer, but provide little evidence of their contribution to poverty
alleviation, let alone poverty elimination. A considerable gap remains in understanding the links
between ecosystem services and poverty, how change occurs, and how pathways out of poverty may be
achieved based on the sustainable utilisation of ecosystem services.
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Keywords
Ecosystem services, Poverty alleviation, Evidence, Impacts
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Source
Ecosystem Services
Type
Journal article
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