The relationship between biodiversity conservation and poverty are frequent themes in political, social, economic and environmental discussions. Poverty is a complex and controversial issue, and has several ways measure, but monetary perpective the most commonly used, although research on poverty reveal the importance of evaluating it under a multidimensional perspective. Studies have shown that poverty is often in areas that are high priority for biodiversity conservation. This work aims to analyze the rural communities near the State Park Serra do Conduru, Bahia, Brazil, in relation to poverty and about the perception of poverty. The analysis of one-dimensional poverty, we analyzed census data from the Brazilian Geography and Statistics Institute. For the multidimensional poverty and perception of poverty and quality of life, we conducted interviews (255 families). When asked about poverty, 52.7% of respondents said they did not consider themselves poor. The perception of families corroborated the results of the one-dimensional results. The perception of respondents about their ability to meet needs, 84% said they were satisfied with life in general. However, when questioned regarding the variables that make up the multidimensional poverty indicators, they showed up dissatisfactions in the categories: health (53.6%), job opportunities (54%), and others. Access. When asked about their level of happiness, 85% of respondents consider themselves happy. Although families suffering from a range of access needs and opportunities, characterized by deprivation and vulnerability, only 15% of respondents do not consider themselves happy.

This media entry was a contribution to the special session „Biodiversity conservation and poverty: a study of rural communities in a protected área, Bahia, Brazil“ at the 5th International Degrowth Conference in Budapest in 2016.