ABSTRACT
The health and economic well-being of people living in poverty depends on a wide range of environmental resources: fresh water for drinking, sanitation and agriculture; fertile soil and healthy fisheries for the production of food; and the diverse products of forest and marine ecosystems. Moreover, the diversity of nature—its aesthetic, nutritional and pharmacological variety—greatly enriches people’s physical and spiritual experience. But when natural resources are depleted, or when air, soil and water are polluted, poor and economically vulnerable people suffer the most.
