Blog Action Day— October 15—is an annual nonprofit event that aims to unite the world’s bloggers, podcasters and videocasters, to post about the same issue on the same day. This year's aim is to raise awareness and trigger a global discussion on poverty.

You can also view the Blog Action Day 2008 video on YouTube or Vimeo

It's an interesting coincidence that Poverty and Environment are the two topics that Blog Action Day chose to discuss in its first two years. It also happens to be a relationship that WRI has been exploring in depth for several years.

Three-quarters of the world's poorest citizens—making less than $2 a day—live in rural areas, dependent on the environment for their livelihoods. So the two challenges are deeply inter-connected. Sustainably managed ecosystems can be a source of economic empowerment for the poor. Conversely, when the poor are given a voice in decisions that affect the ecosystems on which they depend, it can pave the way for better management of natural resources.

Update 10/15 - WRI's Blog Action Day contribution: "Scaling-Up Successful Nature-Based Development" - An interview Crispino Lobo of the Watershed Organization Trust on how rural villages can escape poverty by managing their land sustainably.

Recent WRI Work on Poverty and the Environment

• World Resources Report 2008: Roots of Resilience - Growing the Wealth of the Poor
• World Resources 2005 - The Wealth of the Poor: Managing Ecosystems to Fight Poverty
• Growing the Wealth of the World's Poor
• Subprime Development: the Mother of All Collapses
• Climate Change Brings New Urgency to Millennium Development Goals
• EarthTrends Poverty Maps