Understanding where people depend the most on natural resources for their basic human needs is crucial for planning conservation and development interventions. For some people, nature is a direct source of food, clean water, and energy through subsistence uses. However, a high direct dependency on nature for basic needs makes people particularly sensitive to changes in climate, land cover, and land tenure. Based on more than 5 million household interviews conducted in 85 tropical countries, we identified where people highly depend on nature for their basic needs. Our results show that 1.2 billion people, or 30% of the population across tropical countries, are highly dependent on nature. In places where people highly depend on nature for their basic needs, nature-based strategies that protect, restore or sustainably manage ecosystems must be carefully designed to promote inclusive human development alongside environmental benefits.

了解人们在哪些方面最依赖自然资源来满足其基本人类需求对于规划保护和发展干预措施至关重要。对某些人来说，大自然是食物、清洁水和能源的直接来源，可以维持生计。然而，基本需求对自然的高度直接依赖使人们对气候、土地覆盖和土地使用权的变化特别敏感。根据在 85 个热带国家进行的超过 500 万个家庭访谈，我们确定了人们高度依赖自然来满足其基本需求的地方。我们的研究结果表明，热带国家有 12 亿人，即 30% 的人口，高度依赖自然。在人们高度依赖自然满足其基本需求的地方，基于自然的保护策略，