Bioversity scientist co-edits new book series integrating ecology and development

Bioversity International scientist Fabrice DeClerck  [2] has co-edited a new two-volume book series on the significant role of ecology and its connection to global issues.

'Integrating Ecology and Poverty Reduction: The Ecological Dimensions and the Application of Ecology in Development Solutions,' recently published by Springer, is co-edited by DeClerck, Jane Carter Ingram of the Wildlife Conservation Society and Cristina Rumbatis del Rio of the Rockefeller Foundation.

In the first volume, 'Ecological Dimensions,' the editors address the ecological aspects of major development challenges – such as hunger, nutrition and health – and the contributions of ecological science to solving these problems. For the second volume, 'Application of Ecology in Development Solutions,' the editors look at the role of ecology in creating long-term sustainable solutions to some of these challenges and the social, economic factors – such as gender, education and economics – that mediate the implementation of these solutions.

“The idea for this book came about when the three of us were post-doctoral fellows in 2004 at Columbia University’s Earth Institute. We were working with dozens of colleagues from other disciplines, all keenly focused on how their fields contribute to achieving the UN Millennium Development Goals, and it got us thinking about the connections of ecology in a broader context," DeClerck said. The trio – with backgrounds in ecology, geography and sustainable development – has collaborated on multiple projects addressing the role of ecology in poverty reduction.

“The foundation of this book series is connected to the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. As ecologists, we naturally gravitated to MDG7, ensuring environmental sustainability. But we began to realize ecology had important contributions to make to nearly all of the goals, particularly to hunger, health, clean water” he said.

DeClerck said the goal of the book is to demonstrate that ecology is more than conserving birds and butterflies in protected areas. “In ecology, our work has impact on humans – while we study the relationships that other organisms have with each other and the natural environment. We are aiming to demonstrate through this series that ecology has important contributions to help address world issues like poverty .”

The book series highlights many examples of the contributions of ecology to world issues, DeClerck said, from the role of ecology in disaster mitigation to human health. “For example during the tsunami in Asia, we recognize that communities surrounded by more intact ecosystems fared better.”

In many developing countries, there is a delicate balance between forests, farms and nature, DeClerck said. He points to the coffee boring beetle as an example in Costa Rica. “As ecologists, we can help use landscape ecology and our knowledge of species dispersal and movement through fragmented landscapes to help reduce the movement of undesirable species such as the beetle which can make an important contribution to its control – and thus sustainably improve the economic possibilities and productivity for surrounding farmers. That’s very powerful and beneficial.”

DeClerck said this work is completely aligned with his continuing research at Bioversity International, the world’s only research organization focused on the use and conservation of agricultural biodiversity.

“Bioversity is at the forefront of what the book is talking about. It’s the functional role that agrobiodiversity plays in sustainably producing for human needs. This book series demonstrates how poor farmers can harness the information and benefits of biodiversity to sustain their farms. They can reduce pests and diseases, including human diseases, by understanding how the interactions can be managed,” he said.

 “We hope that the issues presented and explored in this volume will serve to encourage ecological scientists and practitioners in international development fields to collaborate together to identify creative, sustainable and viable solutions to challenges preventing poverty alleviation around the world,” DeClerck said.

DeClerck is the scientific leader of the Agroecological Intensification Programme at Bioversity International, based in Rome. Ingram is the leader of the Ecosystem Services and Payments for Ecosystem Services group at the Wildlife Conservation Society in New York. Rumbaitis del Rio is an associate director at the Rockefeller Foundation in New York.

For more information about the series, visit www.amazon.com  [3]

For further reading, why not check out our Earth Day Research Reading list  [4]