Stories: People & Ecosystems

With world heads of state gathered in New York to discuss the status of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), climate change and ecosystem destruction brings added pressure to the fight to end extreme poverty.

Southeast Asia’s scientists, researchers, and political figures are emphasizing the importance of restoring mangrove forests, one of nature’s strongest defenses against natural disasters.

Ecosystems provide a wealth of services to human populations, among them, disease regulation. But narrowly-focused development projects can threaten these ecosystems and put entire populations at risk.

Many companies lack the capacity to deal with natural resource constraints, according to a survey by the consultancy McKinsey & Company.

Climate change poses a major threat to the world’s 2 billion rural poor, but [sustainable natural resource management](node/9837) can help developing countries like Niger adapt to the threat.

When it comes to allocating money for conservation, reverse auctions can help governments get the biggest bang for their buck.

The cost of grain-based staples–such as tortillas in Mexico, beef noodles in western China, and bread in the United States–has increased around the world. There are several reasons why prices have jumped, but there’s one getting a lot of attention: the global rush for bioenergy.

It is estimated that desertification, a process of land degradation that occurs in dryland ecosystems due to overexploitation and land mismanagement, now costs China about $2-3 billion each year.

The newly-released World Resources Report 2008 charts a path for how sustainable, nature-based enterprise can help the world’s 2 billion rural poor escape the cycle of poverty.

The Olympics are an opportunity for the U.S. and China to better understand each other and move forward together on fighting climate change.