Publication

This paper considers the complex relationships between biodiversity and human welfare. It shows how biodiversity and human welfare are perceived differently by a wide range of actors. The authors examine how biodiversity has been seen by different groups of people and how they interact in the arena of biodiversity. It not only looks at the level of dependence that different sections of the rural poor have on biodiversity, but it also examines such groups as policymakers, state functionaries, entrepreneurs, corporations and timber traders, and explains how such groups frequently have significant influence on the discourses surrounding the protection and use of biodiversity. To illustrate this, the paper includes three detailed case studies involving Russian forests, tropical forests and wildlife in Cameroon, and marine biodiversity in Greenland.