Global Security and Sustainability

Conservation and Sustainable Development

This grantmaking area is dedicated to conserving biodiversity -- the species, ecosystems and ecological processes that make up the web of life -- over the long term and to increasing the understanding of the integral relationship between the health of the biosphere and human well-being. Work is supported in a select number of tropical biogeographic zones, chosen for their richness of species diversity, endemism, limited institutional capacity, and level of threat. MacArthur also supports research in investigating trade-offs that exist between human well-being and biodiversity conservation goals and exploring approaches to conservation that address the impacts of climate change.

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FROM THE FIELD Decree Strengthens Environmental Governance in Ecuador July 8, 2008 Based on a proposal by MacArthur grantee Fondo Futuro Latinoamericano (FFLA), the Ecuadorian government has incorporated, by presidential decree, social and environmental conflict analysis as part of environmental impact studies. FFLA developed the proposal in conjunction with the Ecuadorian Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Oil and Mining as part of a reform effort targeting large-scale oil, mining, and hydroelectric dam projects. The decree represents a significant achievement for a culturally and biologically diverse region that is threatened by hydrocarbon exploration and development. Ecuador is located in one of the biodiversity hotspots that are the focus of MacArthur’s conservation and sustainable development grantmaking.  More From the Field