Rewarding Upland Poor for Environmental Services (RUPES)

Among the vast multitude of the poor in Asia, the populations that are most marginalized are those living in the hilly and mountainous areas. The benefits of national and local investments in economic development often bypass these upland communities and in many cases they are bearing a large share of the negative aspects of development. It is increasingly evident that the real plight of mountain and upland poor communities has been overlooked. There is an urgent need to support a process of self-empowerment so that poor upland people can take the necessary decisions to build a sustainable future based on their resources, on improved technology and centuries of accumulated wisdom. We now know that many upland and mountain communities in Asia manage landscapes that provide environmental services to outside beneficiaries. The services they provide include clean and abundant water supplies from watersheds, biodiversity protection, stocks of carbon that may alleviate global warming and landscape beauty for recreation and tourism. However upland communities are not sharing in the benefits that these services provide. Rewarding the poor upland communities for providing environmental services would enhance their livelihoods and reduce poverty.

---

• View source