{"id":1472,"date":"2026-06-03T17:24:53","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T16:24:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/why-helping-poorer-countries-could-also-help-protect-the-planet\/"},"modified":"2026-06-03T17:24:56","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T16:24:56","slug":"why-helping-poorer-countries-could-also-help-protect-the-planet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/why-helping-poorer-countries-could-also-help-protect-the-planet\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Helping Poorer Countries Could Also Help Protect the Planet"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><em>What if the fight against poverty was also a matter of biodiversity?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><\/figure>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A Widely Held Belief on Shaky Ground<\/h2>\n<p>For a long time, the story was told as a grim duel. On one side, nature to protect, almost under a glass dome. On the other, developing poor countries, rapidly, sometimes at the expense of the landscape. As if a tropical forest, a more profitable farm, and a decent income could not coexist in the same breath.<\/p>\n<section class=\"incontent-related\"><span class=\"incontent-related__title\">Also read<\/span> <span class=\"incontent-related__desc\">Climatologists explain why Europe warms much faster than the rest of the world<\/span><\/section>\n<p>A study published in the journal <strong>PNAS<\/strong> nevertheless challenges this old reflex. It was conducted by researchers from the University of Minnesota. According to their projections, speeding up development in low-income countries could also <strong>reduce the pressure on natural lands<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>The heart of the matter rests on one very ordinary word: agriculture. Today, crops cover roughly 12% of the land. Pastures account for nearly a quarter. This is not a balcony planter. It is one of the main drivers of the disappearance of wild habitats.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s where the paradox becomes interesting. And frankly, less comfortable than it seems.<\/p>\n<section class=\"incontent-related\"><span class=\"incontent-related__title\">Also read<\/span> <span class=\"incontent-related__desc\">Chinese solar power enters a difficult phase after a decade of rapid growth<\/span><\/section>\n<p>If developing countries remain trapped in poverty, the demand for food could explode. Population growth would further amplify the pressure. Possible result: more forests, savannas, and wetlands converted into fields. The researchers point to as much as a billion hectares more cultivated by 2100.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1780503893_181_Why-Helping-Poorer-Countries-Could-Also-Help-Protect-the-Planet.webp.webp\" alt=\"Agricultrice tenant un panier de plantes dans un champ cultiv\u00e9, avec irrigation, for\u00eat tropicale et maison traditionnelle en arri\u00e8re-plan.\" class=\"wp-image-1009768\"  ><\/figure>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Progress, the Biodiversity Version<\/h2>\n<p>The idea is not to repaint growth in neon green. It\u2019s more nuanced. Higher incomes are often accompanied by a demographic transition. They can also foster better yields, more efficient infrastructure, and smoother exchanges. Producing more without nibbling away everywhere: that\u2019s the real tightrope.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Stephen Polasky<\/strong>, one of the study\u2019s authors, sums up this reversal with caution. Helping poor countries develop could reduce poverty. And, more unexpectedly, <strong>benefit nature<\/strong>. Appealing, but not magical: the researchers do not provide a political playbook.<\/p>\n<section class=\"incontent-related\"><span class=\"incontent-related__title\">Also read<\/span> <span class=\"incontent-related__desc\">The fires ravaging the Arctic release carbon stored for thousands of years<\/span><\/section>\n<p>This question is not new. Back in the 1980s, the <strong>Brundtland Report<\/strong> already linked <strong>ecology and social justice<\/strong>. The planet, after all, does not love overly simple solutions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1473,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1282,1627,740,1628,221],"class_list":["post-1472","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-countries","tag-helping","tag-planet","tag-poorer","tag-protect","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-50"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1472","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1472"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1472\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1474,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1472\/revisions\/1474"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1473"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}