MPO




MPO - Root Cause





Discovering The Root Causes of Biodiversity Loss:

Deforestation The Big Picture

The loss of biodiversity around the globe has been well documented, and immediate causes–such as deforestation–are fairly well understood. Yet insufficient effort has gone toward understanding the forces that drive individuals and nations to make choices that sometimes run counter to their long-term interests and destroy biodiversity in the process. A complex interplay of factors shapes these choices at all political, social, and economic levels. To stem the global loss of biodiversity, it is important that we understand how various factors influence these decisions.

"Root causes" analysis is about understanding the inherent complexity and multiplicity of factors driving unsustainable environmental degradation and development approaches. Through ten case studies, the MPO's Root Causes project is gaining knowledge to help policy makers––and the international community–develop applicable solutions to limit the loss of biological resources on which human communities depend.

Root Causes case studies analyze the underlying forces that drive biodiversity loss. Through the highly disciplined work of a range of experts within each host country, these case studies can help point out the failures of unsustainable policies and the unintended consequences of otherwise sound policies.

Root Causes is designed to take the work of biodiversity conservation in a new direction. Conservation efforts have long focused on specific geographic instances of biodiversity loss and the local factors that drive it. Broader influences–such as economic or social policies at the national or even international level–have gained less attention because the links to biodiversity loss are harder to establish and because fundamental policy changes are much harder to achieve.

But several years of discussion between the WWF-MPO and representatives of the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) and other international donor organizations have led to a commitment to draw a strategic approach to address root causes. The knowledge gained through these studies will help the WWF








The following agencies have provided financial support to this project:
  • Danish International Development Agency,
  • Bundesministerium für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung,
  • Neda - Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken,
  • Global Environmental Facility