"In and around the remaining centers of high biodiversity are also the poorest communities in the world. These communities -- especially those of tribal peoples -- have never shared in the bounties of the land, either during the days of colonialism or during today's era of local elite colonialism. The best way to liberate these communities from the vicious cycle of poverty is through empowerment -- the control of their own natural resources, and access to information and technology. To support the advocacy of these issues is to support the cause of biodiversity conservation."

Why should villagers respect a protected-area boundary that cuts off their access to resources? Why should a logging community support the protection of an endangered species' habitat? What is the appeal of "ecotourism" to a community if the profits from the venture go elsewhere? Indeed, people living in areas of high biodiversity value may have more convincing reasons to over-exploit resources than to conserve them.

Many communities simply have no economic incentives to conserve biodiversity. In these communities, the key to successful conservation is making sure that they share the benefits fairly and do not shoulder a disporportionate share of the costs. In many others where economic incentives do exist, local authorities and communities need to regulate the use of biodiversity within wider resource management plans and to apply technical skills to manage and conserve biological resources. Important here are legally recognized and enforceable rights to land, which give the communities both an economic incentive and a legal basis for stewardship.

Governments often misinterpret calls for greater community involvement in biological resource management as demands to turn the whole enterprise over to local people. In fact, communities must manage their biological wealth within the wider context of obligations and responsibilities to the nation and the world, and local communities need various government services to be effective resource managers. In some cases, government should in fact assert more control over local abuses of the environment or intervene to correct local inequities in resource access. For these reasons, governments have a legitimate and important role to play in safeguarding national interests and in enforcing minimum standards of resource stewardship, even on private lands.

Objective: Correct imbalances in the control of land and resources that cause biodiversity loss and develop new resource management partnerships between government and local communities.

• Action 31. Reduce pressure on fragile ecosystems and wildlands by using land already under cultivation more efficiently and equitably.

• Action 32. Increase incentives for local stewardship of public lands and waters.

• Action 33. Recognize the ancestral domains of tribal and indigenous peoples and support their efforts to maintain traditional practices and adapt them to modern pressures and conditions.

• Action 34. Compensate individuals and local communities who own or depend on land or resources taken for public purposes.

• Action 35. Manage living resources on public lands through new forms of community-state partnership and cooperation.

Objective: Expand and encourage the sustainable use of products and services from the wild for local benefits.

• Action 36. Recognize and quantify the local economic value of wild products in development and land-use planning.

• Action 37. Encourage local communities to explore opportunities for developing a larger market share for wild products harvested sustainably.

• Action 38. Increase the local benefits of tourism in natural areas -- "ecotourism" -- and ensure that tourism development does not result in biodiversity loss or cultural conflict.

• Action 39. Strengthen local capacity for maintaining and benefiting from crop and varietal diversity.

• Action 40. Develop the role of traditional medicines and ensure their appropriate and sustainable use.

Objective: Ensure that those who possess local knowledge related to genetic resources benefit appropriately when it is used.

• Action 41. Promote recognition of the value of local knowledge and genetic resources and affirm local peoples' rights.

• Action 42. Base the collection of genetic resources on contractual or other agreements ensuring equitable returns.