The private interests of poor people and the social interests of the broader society diverge. The interest of poor, local people in using these lands and water resources is intense, immediate and focused--food, fuel, fodder, crop land, and irrigation water. They will (often unknowingly) incur almost any social cost to permit the immediate exploitation of these environmental resources to sustain their livelihood. The interests of loggers, commercial farmers, builders and others who exploit the forests, range and grasslands and water resources are equally intense, but driven more by immediate profit considerations, not by the need to survive.