COMACO Principles

COMACO operates on certain principles or concepts that help guide its strategy for supporting conservation through the development of appropriate markets and market-oriented livelihood skills.

These principles include:

• Markets drive land use practices and shape rural livelihoods, and in so doing, form the basis of local attitudes and perceptions toward conserving natural resources.

• In rural areas where landscapes support appreciable natural assets, families unable to feed themselves or meet basic income needs increase risks of natural resource degradation by adopting coping strategies harmful to natural resources.

• Poverty and hunger contribute to a range of social costs that exacerbate the cost of protecting natural resources

• Rural economies driven by closer relationships between markets and natural resource management create added value benefits for improved national economies.