The reduction of world poverty is a major challenge for the international community over the next decade. It is increasingly clear that the our capacity to successfully achieve this objective will be undermined if the natural resource base for development is threatened. ~Biodiversity is a fundamental characteristic of that resource base, defining many of its immediate and future potentials and vulnerabilities. The purpose of this document is to explore how biodiversity and people’s interactions with it might either support or restrict poverty reduction processes. It does so by aiming to develop a better understanding of biodiversity, the values it holds, and how people respond to it. It attempts to shed light on the differing impacts of these values – and their associated management systems on people’s livelihoods, especially those of the poorest groups. It ends with a presentation of possible future actions.