Poverty Alleviation, Ecotourism, and Biodiversity Protection in Príncipe Island

Abstract

Príncipe is the smallest of the two São Tomé and Príncipe (STP) islands and site of a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. Two-thirds of its seven thousand inhabitants are poor, and the productive fabric does not generate enough resources for poverty alleviation and biodiversity conservation. Moreover, STP archipelago belongs to the group of small island developing states (SIDS), recognised by the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development as a particular case, and international funding for development and sustainability support is available. In addition, the autonomous government of Príncipe identified ecotourism as a niche market to develop, establishing goals for this activity. This chapter presents some results of the actions that have been promoted. In future work, the author studies the case of Cape Verde, another Portuguese speaking SIDS, aiming to understand what has been done in terms of poverty alleviation and its impacts.