Healthy ecosystems produce goods and services that provide livelihoods for people and the potential for economic development. These include fresh water, agricultural productivity, fisheries, forest products, energy and protection from natural hazards. But when human activity degrades the environment, these goods and services decline, hampering economic and social development and leaving rural, marginalized communities more vulnerable.
About conservation and social policy
Supporting traditional water systems in Pakistan
Karez systems in Pakistan are traditional practices of water tapping and channelling. Due to overpumping of groundwater aquifers in Balochistan province, of an estimated 800 karezes, 175 have dried up in recent decades. …
10 Mar 2011 | News story
International Women’s Day – women in forest communities need louder voice
To mark the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day on Tuesday 8 March 2011, IUCN is calling for women in forest communities to be given more control of the management of forests and to be involved in decisions relating to them. …
08 Mar 2011 | News story
Women and Water
International Women's Day (8 March) is a global day celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future. …
08 Mar 2011 | News story
Partners for the protection of Ecuador’s forests
The Ecuadorian Government is taking bold steps to protect the country's native forests - natural 'gold mines' that store large amounts of carbon, harbour some of the highest levels of biodiversity on the planet, and provide numerous other benefits to people and nature. …
28 Feb 2011 | News story
Finding a better way
In one of the biologically richest places on earth, IUCN Members are helping to provide people with alternatives to income from the illegal wild meat trade that is threatening local wildlife. … | Spanish
28 Feb 2011 | News story
IUCN's Stewart Maginnis on the importance of forests
What role do forests play in combating climate change and providing livelihoods for millions of people around the world? How do forests affect all 6.8 billion people on the planet? Stewart Maginnis, Director of IUCN's Environment and Development Group answers those question on Global Connections TV. …
14 Feb 2011 | Video
Raise the value of forests, says IUCN
A better evaluation of what forests are worth will generate direct benefits for poor forest dwellers, open up new markets and affect global economic growth. The economic benefits of forests are massively under-valued by governments and donor agencies, according to IUCN’s latest report. … | French | Spanish
01 Feb 2011 | International news release
The value of investing in locally-controlled forestry
Forests are a good investment option. In the words of one of the world’s leading international news and business weeklies: …
28 Jan 2011 | Downloads - document
Forests and poverty: the latest thinking
Gill Shepherd, IUCN Livelihoods and Landscapes Strategy Thematic Adviser on Poverty and Landscapes, speaks on the latest thinking on forests and poverty, drawing from lessons that have come out of IUCN's innovative 'Livelihoods and Landscapes Strategy' (LLS). …
27 Jan 2011 | Video
Going nuts about forests
In Laos, the sustainable harvesting of medicinal seeds from the native malva nut tree is helping to improve both the lives of local people and the state of the region’s forests. …
24 Jan 2011 | News story
