Cornell University will host a conference, "Reconciling Rural Poverty Reduction and Resource Conservation: Identifying Relationships and Remedies," in Warren Hall on May 2 and 3.

The conference, which is free and open to the public, is part of the university's Poverty, Inequality and Development Initiative. Among the conference guests are: Steve Sanderson, president and chief executive of the World Conservation Society; Pedro Sanchez, director of tropical agriculture at Columbia University's Earth Institute, coordinator for the Hunger Task Force of the United Nations' Millennium Project and winner of the 2002 World Food Prize; and Emmy Simmons, assistant administrator for economic growth, agriculture and trade, United States Agency for International Development.

Rural poverty and the degradation of renewable natural resources, such as soils, forests, water and wildlife, are closely related. Understanding the complex relationships between poverty and the environment is a crucial first step toward solving these problems, says Chris Barrett, Cornell associate professor of applied economics and management, an organizer of the conference.

The second step involves identifying and evaluating prospective policy, technology, management and institutional innovations that might effectively address them, he says. Although scholars have devoted considerable effort to these problems, especially in the decade between the U.N.-sponsored 1992 Earth Summit in Brazil and the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in the summer of 2002, the current state of knowledge on relationships and remedies remains limited, Barrett says.

The May 2 program, all in Room 401, Warren Hall:

• "Rural Poverty and Renewable Resources," 8:15--10 a.m.
• "Labor, Agriculture and Resource Dynamics," 10:30 a.m.--12:15 p.m.
• "Communities, Conflict and Management," 2--3:45 p.m.
• "The Dynamics of Coupled Human and Natural Systems," 4:15 p.m.--6 p.m.

The May 3 program:

• "Collective Action: An Effective Dual Purpose Tool," 401 Warren Hall, 8:15--10 a.m., and 10:30 a.m.--12:15 p.m.
• "Sustainable Agriculture Intensification Experiences," 201 Warren Hall, 8:15--10 a.m.
• "Advancing Agricultural Innovation," 201 Warren, 10:30 a.m.--12:15 p.m.
• "Paying the Poor for Environmental Services," 401 Warren Hall, 2--3:45 p.m.
• "Biodiversity Conservation Amid Endemic Poverty," 401 Warren, 4--6:15 p.m.

The conference Web site is http://afsnrm.aem.cornell.edu/Poverty/ .