ABSTRACT
The extent of poverty in India (until a few years ago) had still not been substantially dented after 60 years of targeted anti-poverty programmes. Most rural programmes fail as the schemes are uniform and ignore ecosystem differences across regions in India. What might work for one particular part of the country fail miserably in another due to huge ecological, social and cultural differences. A majority of India still depends heavily and directly on its natural resources for sustenance, and people still draw their livelihoods and food directly from nature, despite the economic boom. Here, we must remember that rich people make a greater use of the environment than poor people (using more materials and energy, producing more solid waste and carbon dioxide). Nevertheless, poor rural people use environmental resources and services in a more immediate way than rich people. They also have more knowledge about them than urban populations.
