Another important component of
the course are the actual lectures by our very capable and knowledgeable
machete-wielding professor Dr. Skole!
What
especially interested me was how conservation of natural resources (especially
forests) can help alleviate poverty. More than 1 billion individuals live on
less than $1 a day (which is considered extreme poverty).
In
addition, 2/3rds of the rural poor live in ecologically vulnerable areas and
marginally productive landscapes. Many of the world's poorest populations are
also small-hold farmers.
Dr.
Skole explained that by encouraging more sustainable agriculture and forestry
via carbon stocks and carbon sequestration livelihoods can be improved through
the creation of more jobs and healthier environments.
Some
effective methods to address this issue is increasing the amount of carbon in
soil and biomass for smallholder systems via carbon sequestration in adoption of reforestation
and sustainable land use, reforestation, and other co-benefits related to
biodiversity conservation and other environmental concerns, livelihoods,
and poverty reduction.
Other ways of reducing carbon
in the atmosphere are emission reduction, energy substitutions, maintaining
carbon stocks, and increasing sinks by sequestration.
In short, by making
preparations for a rural low-carbon economy we can increase the value to
agriculture by incorporating innovative and adaptive approaches such as those
aforementioned.
I found this particular lecture
to be of interest because it really helped tie together my goals as a student
pursuing a dual degree in political science and natural resource conservation.
The plight of humans and that of the environment are absolutely related and I
think it’s very easy to focus on one or the other without considering their
interdependency. How can the 2/3rds of the rural poor that live in
environmentally degraded areas thrive in the future? Especially when their
environment is either polluted to the point of risking the inhabitants health
or so poorly managed that they can no longer support agriculture for their
livelihoods or sustenance face any sort of forseeable or sustainable future . Scientists
and policymakers alike need to realize that that economic growth and
development are not only related but dependent on how we go about conserving
our resources whether it be from a climate change, conservationist, or
humanitarian perspective.