ISLAMABAD, March 27: About 35 to 40 per cent rural population of Pakistan depending on agriculture and natural resources is living below the poverty line and it suffers disproportionately when its access to these resources is denied or limited.

This was observed in a study presented at the one-day national policy forum “mainstreaming environment in Pakistan’s Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper” here on Thursday.

The event was organised by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and Department for International Development (DFID).

The study said the existence of poverty in Pakistan was inextricably linked to environmental conditions and natural resources. It said the poor suffer the most when air and water got polluted. Inadequate sanitation, poor hygiene practices and lack of access to safe drinking water were major causes of ill- health and increasing incidence of deaths, it further said.

Similarly, the study said, the poor were particularly vulnerable to environmental disasters, conflict and competition of scarce natural resources, and in addition their voices go unheard. Therefore, it added, recognising these linkages not only helps identify the opportunities to tackle the root causes of poverty but also provides a strategic focus for prioritising practical solutions to poverty alleviation and sustainable development.

It was suggested in the report that effective, realistic and successful development and poverty alleviation on the ground needed to be steered by a clear strategic purpose and objectives.

It may also be added here that the Government of Pakistan is currently finalising Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) to be able to get international financial assistance through the International Financial Institutions (IFIs) such as the IMF and the World Bank.

This document will serve as blueprint for national development planning and implementation with special focus on tackling the causes of poverty. Environment-poverty linkages are therefore, a crucial feature of PRSP and must be streamlined.

In the end it said, these objectives could be achieved through recognising all the reasons that why poor people remain poor (particularly those linked to the environmental and natural resource conditions).

Secondly, evaluating, the extent to which the sectoral policy objectives are compatible with environmental policy objectives, a basis for setting priorities. And, ensuring that environmental and natural resources issues are included in efforts to monitor the effectiveness of a strategy and its components, selecting the right decisions.

Whereas, the representatives of the Civil Society Organizations, who were also present on the occasion, told Dawn that the PRSP was the policy document being prepared by the government to meet the requirement of the IMF and the World Bank for receipt of concessional lending in future.

They were also of the view that PRSP was basically aimed at gaining more access to indigenous resources in countries such as Pakistan and also securing new markets for products of northern corporations.