ABSTRACT
In Chapter 1 it was suggested that relationships between poverty and the environment are complex and context specific. Being ‘context specific’ suggests that the political and economic situation matters. A multitude of political and economic factors from the household to the global level can affect how people gain and maintain access to natural resources, what benefits they derive and the condition of those resources. The influence of such factors on the status of natural resources, and on who benefits and how, can be investigated through taking a ‘political ecology’ approach.
