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From natural resources to natural assets
1Economics Department, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003, USA.
Summary
This study explores strategies for low-income groups to build natural assets like forests and fisheries. These approaches aim to reduce poverty, protect the environment, and promote environmental justice.
Area of Science:
- Environmental economics
- Development studies
- Environmental justice
Background:
- Natural assets, including raw material sources (forests, fisheries) and environmental sinks (airsheds, water bodies), are crucial for community well-being.
- Access to the benefits of natural resources is often inequitably distributed, hindering poverty reduction and environmental protection efforts.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine strategies for building natural assets within low-income individuals and communities.
- To identify methods for empowering marginalized groups to benefit from natural resources.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of four key strategies: investment, redistribution, internalization, and appropriation.
- Examination of the role of rights in accessing natural asset benefits.
Main Results:
- Identified four distinct strategies for natural asset-building: investment, redistribution, internalization, and appropriation.
- Highlighted the importance of establishing rights for accessing benefits from natural resources, particularly for the poor.
- Demonstrated that natural asset-building can simultaneously address poverty, environmental degradation, and social inequity.
Conclusions:
- Implementing these strategies can empower low-income communities by enhancing their natural asset base.
- Upholding the democratic principle of equal rights to common heritage resources is fundamental.
- Natural asset-building offers a pathway to achieve poverty reduction, environmental conservation, and environmental justice concurrently.
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