Poverty and reefs. Volume 1: A Global Overview

Abstract

Volume 1: A Global Overview is intended as a discussion document to stimulate and open up the debate surrounding poverty and coral reefs. It was produced in response to a specific demand for information, which contributed to informing a policy decision within DFID UK and it is hoped that this understanding may inform discussion more widely. Specific policy guidance for DFID was provided in separate reports and only the more generic aspects of that guidance are included in this overview. The overview approaches the debate from an entirely people and poverty perspective. In doing so it uses existing information combined with new insights developed from the RLA case study research and presents it in a way which some readers may find challenges their current view point. For most people view reefs from a predominantly resource-based perspective and they understand the people who interact with and use reefs in terms of what impact their activities have on reefs and how harmful impacts can be controlled or minimized to ensure reef conservation. In the Global Overview, there is an attempt to view reefs in terms of the poor who are dependent on reefs for their livelihoods, how the reefs benefit the poor, how changes in the reef have impacted the lives of the poor and how the poor have responded and coped with these changes. It also considers wider responses to reef issues and how these interventions have impacted on the lives of the poor