The Price of Nature? Linking ecosystem services and livelihoods

Ecosystems provide services (benefits) in both their natural state (e.g., fisheries, forest products) and in the form of managed landscapes (e.g., crop systems, agroforestry, livestock). Population growth, urbanization and shifting consumption patterns are putting increased pressure on water and other natural resources, which threatens the capacity of ecosystems to support food production and other services. Also, because the majority of the world’s poor men and women directly depend on ecosyst