Poverty-Biodiversity Maps

Background

UNEP/GRID-Arendal was invited to deliver a discussion paper on possible applications of the use of mapping poverty for the IUCN and its members, for the IUCN World Congress in November 2004. The paper also features a new set of maps overlaying and integrating poverty and biodiversity on various spatial scales.

For more information about the report (including download), as well information on the event, see the links in the sidebar.

Map sets

There were basically three new sets of maps prepared for the report, on three different degrees of spatial scale. Please note that these maps represent fairly simple studies, primarily for discussion. We are not investigating the causal relationship with these maps (or in the paper).

A global map, including regional views, with a visual overlay of selected tropical biodiversity hotspots (Conservation International) and a global map of stunting in infants (FAO) further enhanced by population density (Landscan).

A site-selection analysis for Africa, broken into 5 different degrees of urgency for poverty and biodiversity issues, to map in more detail the co-location of high priority areas for these issues, using infant mortality data collected by CIESIN, and density of amphibian species as a biodiversity proxy (Conservation International).

Another site-selection analysis for East Africa using a freshwater biodiversity (using various species data) and the same poverty proxy as above.