Nature Based Community Entreprises (NBCEs)
nbcesOverexploitation and environmental changes pose serious threats to biological diversity and the loss of too many wild species is dangerous because it cuts vital links in the biological web and breaks down the way that an ecosystem works. Ultimately, these impacts threaten food supplies, and sources of wood, fibres and medicines.
In the past, people conserved biodiversity by establishing parks and zoos and creating strict laws regarding the use of wild plants and animals. Protected areas still have value regarding wildlife conservation but, since the Rio de Janeiro conference (1992), awareness has grown regarding the close links between biodiversity loss and human population growth and poverty.
It is now accepted that the people who live in close contact with, and are dependent upon, wild plants and animals for their survival must be fully involved in all efforts to find solutions to address biodiversity loss.
ARCOS has embarked on a journey to engage local communities living in the landscapes where it operates in all its conservation efforts.
Increasingly, conservation projects understand that community involvement and support is essential to achieving long-term resource sustainability and good conservation outcomes. Organizations engage communities for many different reasons, but how they go about this is what makes the difference. ARCOS’ approach is called: Nature-Based Community Enterprises Platform.