Biodiversity and poverty reduction : the importance of biodiversity for ecosystem service

Abstract

This report reviews existing scientific knowledge regarding the links between biodiversity and the sustainable provision of ecosystem services, and considers the implications of these links for development policy. It does not set out to assess the value of ecosystem services to the poor, on which there is a growing understanding presented in other reports and publications, and so does not present the economic valuation of biodiversity or ecosystem services. The report considers biodiversity in the broadest sense, to include variety at the genetic, species and ecosystem levels, and interactions between components of biodiversity, and is therefore not restricted to a consideration of species diversity alone. The links between biodiversity and ecosystem services presented in this report underpin the relationship between the environment and development, and as such contribute towards an understanding of the most effective national, bilateral, and international efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, and towards an improved understanding of the true values of biodiversity