Assessing and managing biodiversity, livelihoods and cultural-spiritual diversity in watersheds through combined vulnerability studies

This paper presents the methodology that will be used in a study of biodiversity and livelihoods in Vietnam, India, South Africa and Costa Rica. The project is funded through the EU FP7 Framework programme, and will run for three years. The development and refinement of a methodology to examine and analyse the interface of three aspects of biodiversity, livelihoods and cultural-spiritual diversity in watersheds in different parts of the world is an important aspect of the project. It is expected that the results will contribute to a better understanding of how the vulnerability of livelihoods can be reduced, especially in rural marginal areas, while at the same time conserving and husbanding bio- and cultural-spiritual diversity.