<HTML><HEAD>
<META charset=US-ASCII http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=US-ASCII">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1106" name=GENERATOR></HEAD>
<BODY style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff">
<DIV>Patricia, Thanks for sharing this article.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>To many of us who have been working in "developing nations" over the past decade (I know for some of you it's been much longer...) in the "alternative" areas of organic agriculture, or of non-timber values and products from forests, or of "alternative" health (such as herbal medicine), this article, refreshing though it is, simply points out the obvious. People depend on a diverse range of economic activities involving a diverse range of plants (a.k.a "natural resources"). Where access to natural resources is restricted, poverty deepens, and conversely, where access is enhanced, poverty is alleviated. I think the work of IUCN is great. My question is, what has impeded these ideas from truly taking hold for so many years, why is this "new" to the "development community?" And, how do these breakthroughs in thinking apply to our North American cause of conservation?</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>There are a couple of fundamental points missing from this article. First of all, what is working here to alleviate poverty is allowing communities to return to the old ways -- systems of cooperative management, where people co-manage and co-benefit from local natural resources. This is nothing new, it's quite ancient. As just one example, conventional wisdom now suggests that native North Americans intensely used and groomed the forests of the Northeast United States. The only reason these forests seemed wild and untamed by the time the Pilgrims landed was that small pox had already spread throughout the native communities (from contact with Spaniards in the South) and had wiped out perhaps millions of people for 100 years before John Smith set foot in the New World.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>That community resource management works for both conservation and alleviation of poverty leads to a second fundamental point, which is so unpopular or taboo that almost no one addresses it: how much do private property rights contribute to poverty? And, how much do private property rights hinder conservation? I'm not saying that I am against private property. I'm just pointing to two fundamental questions which, in my opinion, have to be addressed before we can truly alleviate poverty or before we can implement conservation strategies that might turn the tide of global extinction rates. In my opinion we can have private property that works, so long as "private property" is not analogous to gross inequity. This is not to say that public property as practiced in the US today is better -- not when corporations are allowed to use public resources for private gain as extensively as they currently are. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Now the corporate world is also catching on -- believe it or not I just got an invitation to a conference on "Eradicating Poverty Through Profit" (sponsored by socially-responsible companies including Shell, Texaco, and Dupont) which notes that the poor are "the world's largest untapped market for business innovation and partnership." I have to wonder what this $900 conference (plus hotel plus food) has to do with people in poverty? What is the definition of poverty anyway? Having enough money to afford a cigarette addiction? What untapped markets are we going to dump on the poor next? I have to remain skeptical about the notion that business is going to save the environment or eradicate poverty. The historical evidence points clearly and overwhelmingly to the contrary.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I took the time to write these comments because the types of sollutions described in this article by Rowe for IUCN / Plants and People are truly inspiring and hopeful. These are exactly the types of approaches we need to take -- but we need to be very watchful that decision making and control remains in the hands of local people, not corporations. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Jennifer Chesworth</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV></BODY></HTML>