Step 3. Commercializing Ecosystem Goods and Services

Success at managing ecosystems can bring the poor higher agricultural yields, more fodder, and higher fish catches. Success at creating local institutions that serve the poor can bring a fairer distribution of this enhanced productivity. But these steps alone do not necessarily bring wealth. They may enrich the household diet and stabilize daily subsistence, but they do not assure the kind of cash income that aids the transition out of poverty. That usually requires successful commerce. Success at commercializing ecosystem goods and services often marks the difference between using nature as a low-income livelihood support and making it a substantial source of cash and a path to the accumulation of economic assets (Marshall et al. 2003:128, 135-136; Neumann and Hirsch 2000:43). There are several important elements to successful commercialization:

1. Provide marketing assistance
2. Understand the limitations of transportation
3. Make credit available
4. Capture greater value
5. Partner with the private sector
6. Keep sustainability in mind