Sanjiv these are very good points. People are part of ecosystems and the dynamic relationship between them and the rest of the ecosystem is clearly very complex. It is of course important to know exactly who benefits from which ecosystem services. It is also important to remember that - as the article Terry pointed to indicates - ecosystems do not exist to "serve" people. Thus some ecosystem fuctions are not beneficial for people.
I think you are also right to point out that managing ecosystems to alleviate poverty may not be exacty the same as manging them for conservation. However, I think that one key thing we were trying to point out in this blog is that short term gains may have long terms costs. Thus the key is to try and manage ecosystems in way that alleviates poverty in the short-term but also ensures ecosystem services are not undermined in the future. As we note this is no easy task.
Sanjiv these are very good points. People are part of ecosystems and the dynamic relationship between them and the rest of the ecosystem is clearly very complex. It is of course important to know exactly who benefits from which ecosystem services. It is also important to remember that - as the article Terry pointed to indicates - ecosystems do not exist to "serve" people. Thus some ecosystem fuctions are not beneficial for people.
I think you are also right to point out that managing ecosystems to alleviate poverty may not be exacty the same as manging them for conservation. However, I think that one key thing we were trying to point out in this blog is that short term gains may have long terms costs. Thus the key is to try and manage ecosystems in way that alleviates poverty in the short-term but also ensures ecosystem services are not undermined in the future. As we note this is no easy task.