Poverty and the

Environment

Tajikistan

By Brittany Michaud

The Link Between•Internationally, there is a known correlation

between poverty and environmental danger•Because of a lack of money, education, and concern, poor families disregard the environment to uphold a “survival mentality”•Poor countries do not see the environment as priority because of all the other problems happening within the society, so nothing is done to conserve•These people are not to be blamed for the world’s environmental problems, we must look ahead and focus on a solution

Worldwide Concern

•A map of the countries suffering from poverty

Worldwide Concern

•Varying types of environmental problems, mainly in areas with poverty (compare to previous map)

Indicators of Poverty Causing Environment

Issues •Environment caused health issues •Destruction of forest cover• Soil degradation• Low water quantity and quality• Fisheries• Natural disasters• Lack of sanitation•Pollution

Tajikistan

Tajikistan•The poorest country in Central Asia with 53% of the population living below the poverty line •Main environmental problems: unsustainable agriculture practices, lack of reliable energy supply, natural disasters and climate change impacts, and clean water and food •Suffer from about 500 natural disasters per year•Only about 7% of land has any economic value•Majority of population lies in rural areas, therefore lower living standards and more environmental damage

International Solutions•Effort to help was

initiated through various organizations, but lack of finances keep it from completely solving problems•UNDPUNEP Poverty and Environment Initiative (PEI) is now working to help countries around the world, including Tajikistan•Starting helping Tajikistan in February 2010

What Individuals Can Do•Donate to organizations devoted to saving the

environment, with an international focus•Donate to organizations devoted to ending poverty•Recycle, conserve, and live as “greenly” as you possibly can, because everything we do helps, if only just a little•Influence others to do the same

Works CitedShah, Anup. “Poverty and the Environment.” Global Issues, Updated: 12 Feb. 2005. Accessed: 25 May. 2010. http://www.globalissues.org/article/425/poverty-and-the-environment

"United Nations Poverty-Environment Initiative." Poverty-Environment. UNDP/UNEP, 2007. Web. 27 May 2010. <http://www.unpei.org/programmes/c ountry_profiles/tajikistan.asp>.

"Poverty and Environment." Iisd2010. Nternational Institute for Sustainable Development. Web. 28 May 2010. <http://www.iisd.org/economics/poverty/>.

"POVERTY AND THE ENVIRONMENT: MEASURING THE LINKS." DFID, Feb. 2002. Web. 25 May 2010. <http://www.unep.org/civil_society/GCSF8/pdfs/pov_env_measuringlinks.pdf>.

The End